title: Orthotopic hind-limb transplantation in rats.
abstract: Composite tissue allotransplantation (CTA) now represents a valid therapeutic option after the loss of a hand, forearm or digits and has become a novel therapeutic entity in reconstructive surgery. However, long term high-dose multi-drug immunosuppressive therapy is required to ensure graft survival, bearing the risk of serious side effects which halters broader application. Further progression in this field may depend on better understanding of basic immunology and ischemia reperfusion injury in composite tissue grafts. To date, orthotopic hind limb transplantation in rats has been the preferred rodent model for reconstructive transplantation (RT), however, it is an extremely demanding procedure that requires extraordinary microsurgical skills for reattachment of vasculature, bones, muscles and nerves. We have introduced the vascular cuff anastomosis technique to this model, providing a rapid and reliable approach to rat hind limb transplantation. This technique simplifies and shortens the surgical procedure and enables surgeons with basic microsurgical experience to successfully perform the operation with high survival and low complication rates. The technique seems to be well suited for immunological as well as ischemia reperfusion injury (IRI) studies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Visceral, Transplant, and Thoracic Surgery, Daniel Swarovski Research Laboratory, Innsbruck Medical University, Austria.
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sucher
authors.forename: Rupert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Oberhuber
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Margreiter
authors.forename: Guido
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Rumberg
authors.forename: Rishi
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Jindal
authors.forename: W P Andrew
authors.initials: WP
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Raimund
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Margreiter
authors.forename: Johann
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pratschke
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Schneeberger
authors.forename: Gerald
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Brandacher
mesh_terms: D000714:Anastomosis, Surgical / Q000379:methods; D000818:Animals; D006614:Hindlimb / Q000637:transplantation*; D051381:Rats; D019651:Plastic Surgery Procedures / Q000379:methods*; D014180:Transplantation / Q000379:methods*