Morphometry and Vascularization of the Rabbit Kidneys (Oryctolagus cuniculus)

Rabbits have been used as urologic models in many studies. The aim of this study was to characterize the renal morphology and anatomical variations of the renal pedicle in rabbit. The research ethics committee of Rio de Janeiro Federal Rural University approved this study. The animals were obtained from the university's necropsy unit. Dissections were performed in 50 adult rabbits, male and females, without macroscopic renal pathology. Kidney measurements were made with a digital caliper: length, width, and thickness. The length and origin of the renal arteries and main branches and length of the renal veins were also determined. The terminology of Nomina Anatomica Veterinaria was followed. The mean and standard deviation of the length of the right kidney was 3.150 +/- 0.2588 cm in males and 3.127 +/- 0.3769 cm in females and in the left kidney was 3.083 +/- 0.0818 cm in males and 3.162 +/- 0.0848 cm in females. The width of the right kidney was 1.933 +/- 0.0848 cm in males and 1.996 +/- 0.0680 cm in females and in the left kidney was 1.850 +/- 0.0659 cm in males and 2.004 +/- 0.0940 cm in females. There was no significant difference in the measurements between the two sexes and antimeres and in the measures of renal vessels in relation to sex, but the left artery and renal vein were always larger than the right in both sexes. The results of the present study are expected to contribute to the body of knowledge in the field of comparative and applied anatomy.