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Topic: EuRePS Meeting 2015: best five papers

Twenty years of experience with the rabbit

model, a versatile model for tracheal

transplantation research

Margot Den Hondt , Bart M. Vanaudenaerde , Pierre Delaere , Jan J. Vranckx 1
3
1
2
1 Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, KU Leuven University Hospitals, 3000 Leuven, Belgium.
2 Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Laboratory of Pulmonology, Lung Transplant Unit, KU Leuven, University of
Leuven, 3000 Leuven, Belgium.
3 Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, KU Leuven University Hospitals, 3000 Leuven, Belgium.
Address for correspondence: Dr. Margot Den Hondt, Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, KU Leuven University
Hospitals, Herestraat 49, 3000 Leuven, Belgium. E-mail: margot.denhondt@kuleuven.be

ABSTRACT
Pathologies comprising more than half the length of the trachea are a challenge to the
reconstructive surgeon. Innovative tracheal transplantation techniques aim to offer the patient
a curative solution with a sustained improvement in quality of life. This review summarizes
the authors’ experience with the rabbit as a versatile model for research regarding tracheal
transplantation. Because of the segmental blood supply of the trachea, it is not feasible to
transplant the organ together with a well-defined vascular pedicle. As such, the key element
of successful tracheal transplantation is the creation of a new blood supply. This vascularized
construct is created by prelaminating the rabbit trachea heterotopically, within the lateral
thoracic fascia. After prelamination, the construct and its vascular pedicle are transferred to the
orthotopic position in the neck. This model has become gold standard because of the advantages
of working with rabbits, the anatomy of the rabbit trachea, and the reliability of the lateral
thoracic artery flap. In this paper, the key elements of surgery in the rabbit are discussed, as
well as the tracheal anastomosis and the harvest of the lateral thoracic artery flap. Practical tips
and tricks are presented. The data described in this review represent the fundaments of ongoing
translational research in the center over the past twenty years.

Key words:
Trachea; transplantation; rabbit; lateral thoracic artery flap; prelamination; prefabrication

INTRODUCTION patient a curative solution with a sustained improvement
in quality of life. In the nineties, Delaere et al. developed
[1]
Pathologies comprising more than half the length of the a rabbit model for orthotopic tracheal transplantation
trachea are a challenge to the reconstructive surgeon. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative
Innovative transplantation techniques aim to offer the Commons Attribution‑NonCommercial‑ShareAlike 3.0 License, which allows
others to remix, tweak and build upon the work non‑commercially, as long as the
Access this article online author is credited and the new creations are licensed under the identical terms.
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Website:
http://www.parjournal.net How to cite this article: Den Hondt M, Vanaudenaerde BM,
Delaere P, Vranckx JJ. Twenty years of experience with the rabbit
model, a versatile model for tracheal transplantation research. Plast
DOI: Aesthet Res 2016;3:223-30.
10.20517/2347-9264.2015.117
Received: 30-10-2015; Accepted: 21-06-2016
© 2016 Plastic and Aesthetic Research | Published by OAE Publishing Inc. 223