title: Cryopreservation and replantation of amputated rat hind limbs.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  In spite of the relatively high success rate of limb replantation, many patients cannot undergo replantation surgery because the preservation time of an amputated limb is only about six hours. In addition, although allotransplantation of composite tissues is being performed more commonly with increasingly greater success rates, the shortage of donors limits the number of patients that can be treated. So the purpose of this study is to examine the feasibility of cryopreservation and replantation of limbs in a rat model.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twelve five-month-old Sprague-Dawley rats were divided evenly into group A (above-knee amputation) and group B (Syme's amputation). One hind limb was amputated from each rat. The limbs were irrigated with cryoprotectant, cooled in a controlled manner to -140°C, and placed in liquid nitrogen. Thawing and replantation were performed 14 days later.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In group A, the limbs became swollen after restoration of blood flow resulting in blood vessel compression and all replantations failed. In group B, restoration of blood flow was noted in all limbs after replantation. In one case, the rat chewed the replanted limb and replantation failed. The other five rats were followed for three months with no abnormalities noted in the replanted limbs.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Limbs with a minimal amount of muscle tissue can be successfully cryopreserved and replanted.
authors.forename: Zengtao
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedic and Microsurgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, 58 Zhongshan Road 2, Guangzhou 510080, China. hebodoc@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Bo
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: He
authors.forename: Yongzhuang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Duan
authors.forename: Yun
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: Xiaolei
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: Zhaowei
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhu
mesh_terms: D000671:Amputation, Surgical; D000818:Animals; D015925:Cryopreservation / Q000379:methods*; D003451:Cryoprotective Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D006614:Hindlimb / Q000601:surgery*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012092:Replantation / Q000379:methods*; D063986:Vascularized Composite Allotransplantation / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D003451:Cryoprotective Agents