Papers of the Week

Colon ascendens stent peritonitis (CASP) is one of the well-established models of experimental abdominal sepsis. In CASP surgery, an open link between the gut lumen and the abdominal cavity is created by placing a stent into the colon ascendens. This mimics well the insufficient intestinal anastomosis. It causes a continuous leakage of the gut contents into the peritoneum and leads therefore to peritonitis and sepsis. The abdominal cavity is opened under general anesthesia and a plastic stent is located through and sutured to the colonic wall. The septic severity in CASP models can be titrated by altering the size of the stent catheter. Therefore, CASP models with small stents sizes are suitable for long-term studies and studies with mild/moderate sepsis severity. Within 24 h, animals develop clinical signs of sepsis. Monitoring of the clinical state, sufficient analgesia, appropriate antibiotics and fluid resuscitation should be performed postoperatively.