Abstract:

BACKGROUND: To establish a lung transplantation model in rats is the foundation and the key to pathophysiological process and treatment following lung transplantation; however, a precise surgical technique is required, as the difficulty is great to limit the application of the model.
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the surgical skills of establishing a stable rat lung transplantation model using cuff method.
METHODS: A total of 60 rats were included. Orthotopic left lung transplantation models were established in 30 rats by the modified three-cuff anastomotic technique. The techniques of pulmonary vascular and bronchial anastomosis are as follows: The recipient pulmonary vein was distracted by the“4-pin suspension”with the distribution of 90°angle，so that the collapsed vein was fully open and fixed, and reducing the possibility of tearing the vessel wall which was due to short recipient veins or forcible insection. The recipient pulmonary artery was distracted by the “3-pin suspension” with the distribution of 120° angle. However, the direction of donor lung casing should be pay more attention during anastomosis. Finally, the endo-stent was used for bronchial anastomosis. Meanwhile, the operation time and achievement ratio of transplantation at different stages were calculated.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: The achievement ratio of lung transplantation in 30 cases of rats was 90%; the survival rate of rats after lung transplantation was 100%. The time of left donor lung extraction was (3±1) minutes. The time of in vitro casing in donor lung was pulmonary artery (2±0.5) minutes, pulmonary vein (3±1) minutes, and bronchus (2±0.5) minutes, respectively. The time of arteriovenous and bronchus casing anastomosis was pulmonary artery (4±1) minutes, pulmonary vein (8±3) minutes, bronchus (2±0.5) minutes, respectively. The total operation time was (55±10) minutes. It is indicated that the modified three-cuff technique for establishing lung transplantation models in rats is simple with high achievement ratio of operation. It is a stable model for the study of ischemia-reperfusion injury in rats following lung transplantation.