Fig 1.
Landmarks for the determination of the expected passage of the external jugular vein in 21 days old piglet.
Fig 2.
A. Photograph that shows the positioning of the ultrasound transducer on the marked line (expected passage of external jugular vein); B. Visualization of the 21G echogenic needle entering the venous lumen; ST = subcutaneous tissues (muscle); VL = venous lumen; N = echogenic needle.
Fig 3.
A. Schematic view of catheter positioning in 21-day-old piglets at the end of the catheterization procedure. B. Photograph that shows piglets equipped with catheter during the suckling period. The catheter was covered with a crossed bandage around piglet’s neck and abdomen to ensure overall protection of catheter insertion site. The catheter was routed between two layers of bandage and the exteriorised portion of catheter was placed in a 8×8-cm pouch on the dorsal surface of the neck. Piglets were group-housed for 7 days after the surgical procedure.
Fig 4.
Preservation of catheter function in catheterized piglets (n = 7) during the suckling and the post-weaning period.
Fig 5.
A. Effect of catheter insertion at 21 days of age (d0) on daily dry matter intake of piglets fed ad libitum after weaning. B. Effect of catheter insertion at 21 days of age (d0) on body weight of piglets from d0 to d28 after the surgical procedure. Values shown are means ± SDs. Statistical analysis was performed by ANOVA using the experimental group as a fixed effect and the sow as random effect (MIXED procedure, SAS 9.4, SAS Institute Inc. Cary, NC, USA). Dry matter intake did not significantly differ between the Control group (n = 7) and the Catheter group (n = 7) for each day (P > 0,10). Mean body weight did not significantly differ between the Control group (n = 7) and the Catheter group (n = 7) for each day (P > 0,10).
Fig 6.
Effect of catheter insertion at 21 days of age (d0) on haptoglobin concentration in plasma of piglets measured at d7, d12, d19, and d26 after the surgical procedure.
Values shown are means ± SDs. Statistical analysis was performed by ANOVA for each day using the experimental group as a fixed effect and the sow as random effect (MIXED procedure, SAS 9.4, SAS Institute Inc. Cary, NC, USA). Values that significantly differ (* P < 0.05) or tend to differ (. P < 0.10) between the Control group (n = 7) and the Catheter group (n = 7, 4, 3 and 3 for d7, d12, d19 and d26 respectively) are indicated on the chart.