A. Sotres-Vega
Lung Transplantation Research Unit, National Institute of Respiratory Diseases "Ismael Cosio Villegas" , Tlalpan, Mexico
Title: Cryopreserved and lyophilized organs in surgical skills training
Biography
Biography: A. Sotres-Vega
Abstract
Developing surgical skills is essential in the training of all the surgical specialties. However, ethical, legal, and economic issues have limited surgical training associated with learning on human patients, human cadavers and live laboratory animals. Cryopreservation and Lyophilization are two techniques that preserve the structure and function of tissues and cells. We have developed training programs to teach surgical skills to junior surgeons based on experimental animal organs preserved either by cryopreservation or lyophilization and we have obtained excellent results. 1) Cryopreservation: a) Thirty stomachs were harvested from Wistar rats at the end of non-abdominalresearch studies. The stomachs were washed with cold saline solution and filled with hyaluronic acid solution.The organs cryopreserved at -30°C for 60 days. The stomachs were thawed to room temperature on the day of the surgical skills practice and two full-thickness incisions were made. b) Ten tracheas were harvested from ten non-trachea related research dogs at the moment of euthanasia. Tracheas were trimmed in six or seven rings segments and cryopreserved at -70°C for 60 days during 60 days. The day programmed for surgical skills practice, they were thawed to room temperature. Two incisions were made on every tracheal segment and sutured with running or separate stitches. 2) Lyophilization: Esophagus were harvested from four non-esophagus related research dogs at the moment of eutanasia and trimmed in 3 cm long segments. They were lyophilized at -55ºC and 10 mBar vacuum pressure during 24 hours. The day programmed for surgical skills practice, they were rehydrated. One incision was made on every esophageal segment and sutured with running stitches. Preservation of different tissues is a practical, reproducible,low-cost, and high-fidelity bench model that allows surgical fellows to learn how to handle an organ and improve their surgical abilities before performing surgery on patients or laboratory animals.