Major surgery penetrates and exposes a body cavity, involves orthopedic surgery, or produces significant impairment of physiological function.

Multiple major survival surgical procedures on a single animal are discouraged but may be approved by the IACUC if scientifically justified by the investigator.

It is preferable to use more animals, if possible, to reduce the amount of pain/distress individual animals may experience.

Scientific justification for multiple surgeries is required by the Animal Welfare Act.

Multiple major survival surgeries can be justified if they are related components of a research project, conserve scarce animal resources, or if they are needed for veterinary care reasons.

Cost saving alone is not an adequate reason for performing multiple major survival surgeries.

Each animal use protocol proposing the use of multiple survival surgeries will be considered and reviewed by the IACUC on a case by case basis.