In this article, the effect of surgical damage to the nasal mucosa in rats under the action of general anesthesia was investigated. The motor activity and heart rate variability (HRV) of rats were studied before and 2 days after the surgery. After surgical exposure, motor activity decreased, the time of fading and grooming increased, VLF increased, and HF decreased. Surgical trauma of the nasal septum in rats at the early postoperative stage promotes a pronounced stress response in the form of a sharp shift in the balance of the autonomic nervous system towards the sympathetic level and causes a decrease in exploratory activity, an anxiety, and a depressive-like state in rats.
Keywords: grooming; heart rate variability; motor activity; septoplasty; stress.