View source for Refinement of oral gavage

[[File:MDAvsOG.jpg|alt=There are several alternatives to oral gavage in rodents, for example micropipette-guided drug administration (MDA).|thumb|There are several alternatives to oral gavage (left) in rodents, for example micropipette-guided drug administration (MDA, right). Picture by Rodent MDA Consortium 2024.]]
Oral gavage is an important drug administration technique that requires training to be performed competent. Even if performed competently and carefully, oral gavage can be stressful to laboratory animals and carries the risk of injury. There are several refinement options and alternatives to oral gavage available. The suitability of these refinements should be considered for each specific experiment carefully.

Please also see [[MDA (micropipette-guided drug administration) Method|the page on the MDA (micropipette-guided drug administration) method]].

===Refinement examples for rodents===

*"Sugar coating" gavage needles, e.g. using sweet solutions that support the swallowing of the gavage needle/tube
*Habituation / training

===Examples for alternatives to oral gavage (voluntary oral drug intake)===
Some drugs or substances can be mixed with palatable food or fluids that are ingested voluntary by the animals. In many cases the voluntary oral intake of drugs resembles the situation in human patients better. There are several examples described in the literature or shared by experts (see also [[analgesia]]):

*[https://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/aalas/jaalas/2012/00000051/00000002/art00011 Honey]
*[https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1258/la.2012.012028 Nutella], peanut butter
*Mayonaise
*Jam, e.g. [https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0023677220950782 strawberry jam]
*Jellies
*[[MDA (micropipette-guided drug administration) Method]] with diluted condensed milk 
**for '''mice''' see for example [https://www.nature.com/articles/s41684-021-00723-0 Schalbetter et al.] or [https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0889159120302543 Scarborough et al]. for '''rats''' [https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S016502702300170X Heraudeau et al].