Development of a Teaching Model for Venipuncture and Intravenous Catheter Placement in Alpaca

Principal investigator:

Jeffrey Lakritz, DVM
Ohio State University

A model was developed for teaching atraumatic venipuncture and intravenous catheter placement to veterinary students, technicians and practitioners. A prototype was demonstrated at the 2007 AOBA conference in Louisville, Kentucky, and many alpaca breeders had an opportunity to use the model to practice venipuncture. The final model design has two components, a rigid procedural one and a visual reference one. The reference component shows the topographical anatomy of the head and neck as well as the anatomy of soft tissues beneath the skin of the ventral neck and osteology of one side of the skull. The two part model is available for purchase.