Training in trauma surgical techniques using cryopreserved porcine organs

Aim

To develop a trauma surgery training program using porcine organs and evaluate its usefulness. This program allows participants to experience the tactile sensation of organs and bleeding, which are impossible in trauma surgery training using a cadaver.

Methods

Resected organs (heart, lung, liver, spleen, kidney, small intestine, bladder, and external carotid artery) from slaughtered pigs for medical research were perfused with saline solution, flash-frozen in a deep freezer, and thawed naturally on the morning of training. The training program consisted of half-day practical training in suture repair of artificially created damage to the parenchymal organs and suture or anastomotic repair of damage to the luminal organs. We injected the parenchymal organs' arteries with porcine blood and the renal ureters with saline solution to create models of organ hemorrhage and urinary leakage. The training's usefulness was evaluated using a participant questionnaire that included an 11-point self-assessment of confidence level (SACL) form.

Results

Nine training seminars were conducted from September 2018 to February 2023, attended by 67 participants who were in their 1st to 20th post-graduate year. The mean SACL significantly increased immediately after the seminar but decreased half-year thereafter. However, it was maintained for those with surgical residency. It was also maintained for those with no surgical residency through seminar repetition.

Conclusions

Training in trauma surgical techniques using porcine organs is beneficial regardless of whether the participant has prior surgical residency.