Analysis of two reperfusion techniques in uterine transplantation in an experimental model

Uterine transplantation was developed for the treatment of absolute uterine factor infertility. As it is a new modality of transplantation, there is still room for technical improvement. A factor that impacts graft survival in organ transplantation is the warm ischemia time. In uterine transplantation specifically, at least two vascular anastomoses are performed on each side of the uterus, and the graft revascularization takes place when the vascular clamps of the arteries and veins are released on both sides simultaneously. For this reason, the warm ischemia time in uterine transplant is expected to be considerably long. The purpose of this study was to compare the sequential technique of uterine graft revascularization, which aims to reduce the warm ischemia time of the procedure, with the simultaneous revascularization technique.

For the procedure, the uterine auto-transplantation technique was performed using 10 non-pregnant adult ewes weighing about 45 kg, divided into two groups: simultaneous revascularization group (5 animals) and sequential revascularization group (5 animals). To evaluate the groups, we analyzed the procedure and warm ischemia times, graft macroscopy, hemodynamic, laboratory, and histological parameters of the uterus.

The sequential revascularization technique group had similar surgical procedure times, and the warm ischemia time was significantly shorter with medians of 32 min in the sequential group vs 72 min in the simultaneous group (p < 0.008). The graft macroscopy and hemodynamic, laboratory, and histological parameters evaluated were similar between the groups.

The sequential revascularization technique proved to reduce the warm ischemia time in the sheep uterine auto-transplantation model without compromising graft viability.