Abstract:

BACKGROUND: Rat model of orthotopic liver transplantation is a very valuable model for experimental study in liver transplantation including organ preservation, tissue ischemia-reperfusion injury, allograft rejection and immune tolerance mechanism. Stable liver transplantation animal model is the basis of the related experimental studies. However, its experimental operation is long and boring, especially performed by a single operator under direct vision.
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the operation techniques to establish a stable rat model of orthotopic liver transplantation by a single operator under direct vision.
METHODS: The orthotopic liver transplantation was performed using two-cuff method in 50 pairs of rats. We exposed the abdominal cavity fully, perfused the donor liver through abdominal aorta without flipping donor liver; suprahepatic inferior vena cava was in vivo cut down using one-step method, without diaphragm ring; the suprahepatic inferior vena cava was anastomosed with single-row suture, and the cuff of portal vein was installed by fixing the blood vessel forceps on rubber. Hepatic artery was not reconstructed. Fluid replacement was administered to maintain hemodynamic stability in rats after operation.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: The donor operative time was (36.2 ± 2.5) minutes, donor liver trimming time was (12.2 ± 1.5) minutes, receptor operative time was (45.6 ± 3.5) minutes, suprahepatic inferior vena cava anastomosis time was (10.1 ± 2.1) minutes, portal vein cuff time was (1.5 ± 0.9) minutes, infrahepatic inferior vena cave cuff time was (1.1 ± 0.6) minutes, anhepatic phase was (15.1 ± 2.2) minutes. The success ratio of the operation was 100% and the survival rates within 1 week and 1 month were all 100%. It is indicated that the key factors of a successful model were stable anesthesia, good donor liver perfusion, adequate exposure, skilled microsurgical technology and vascular anastomosis technique.