ORIGINAL RESEARCH
An experiment on biological objects: composite facial graft cross-transplantation
1 Federal Scientific and Clinical Center of Otorhinolaryngology under the Federal Medical-Biological Agency (FMBA) of the Russian Federation, Moscow, Russia
2 Petrovsky Russian Scientific Center for Surgery, Moscow, Russia
Correspondence should be addressed: Aleksey V. Batyrev
Volokolamskoe shosse, 30/2, k. 443, Moscow, 123182; ur.xednay@laicafoinarc
Funding: FMBA applied research, subject "Research of metabolic, morphometric and functional characteristics of tissues and organs after head and neck area surgery involving physical and laser-conversion digital technologies" ("ChLH-18").
Author contribution: Daikhes NA, Nazaryan DN — work organization, article editing; Gileva KS, Mokhirev MA, Lyashev IN, Zakharov GK, Fedosov AV, Potapov MB — participation in the experimental part of the work; Batyrev AV — participation in the organization and experimental part of the work, article authoring; Karneeva OV — participation in the organization of work.
Compliance with ethical standards: the living conditions of animals, care and all manipulations they were subjected to meet the experimental model research standards.
Facial graft transplantation remains the operation of choice for patients with extensive tissue defects in the maxillofacial region. This study aimed to set up an experiment on biological objects, develop and test a combined facial graft cross-transplantation technique, select the anesthetic aid allowing to reduce the risks of perioperative complications, improve survivability of the subjects by reducing the duration of surgical intervention, develop a postoperative therapy and rehabilitation protocol, assess detection of an acute rejection reaction and develop the immunosuppressive therapy protocol. We conducted three series of facial graft transplantation surgeries on 26 minipigs and tested the typical component combinations and flap designs. At all stages of the experiment, we managed to have the subjects surviving for over 30 days without disrupting their vital functions. The immunosuppression procedure was developed and tested. The chosen technique allows transplanting two grafts within a single surgery on one pair.
Keywords: microsurgery, face transplant, facial flap, composite flap