Abstract
Composite tissue allograft (CTA) transplantation is a promising treatment in reconstructive
surgery for complex tissue injuries in humans. However, continued research is required
to optimize the risk to benefit ratios. In this study, we describe, in detail, an
optimized simultaneous dual-surgeon orthotopic hind-limb transplantation model in
direct comparison to a single-surgeon model. In this study 75 hind-limb CTAs were
performed, employing either a dual-surgeon model (n = 60) or a single-surgeon model (n = 15) for the transplantation of two hind-limbs. Operative times, complication rates,
and costs were compared. The dual-surgeon approach showed a significant reduction
of 45.4% in overall operative time (p < 0.05). Overall complication rate was 8%. The dual-surgeon model was ∼30.5% more
cost-effective than the traditional single-surgeon approach. Benefits of the proposed
simultaneous dual-surgeon orthotopic rat hind-limb CTA model include decreased operating
times, decreased complication rates, and reduced financial costs when compared with
the established single-surgeon model.
Keywords
hind-limb - allotransplantation - rat - experimental model - orthotopic
