Organ Embalming by Perfusion Technique: A Humane Alternative for Animal Sacrifice in Veterinary Education

Abstract

A perfusion technique was used to embalm the heart, lungs, liver and kidneys collected from a humanely slaughtered Large White Yorkshire pig. These organs serve as valuable specimens for teaching veterinary anatomy and as an alternative for procuring the organs from a purposely sacrificed and embalmed healthy animal. They were perfused with 10% formalin individually and later immersed in 10% formalin for a week till complete fixation was ensured. All the specimens grossly appeared normal in colour and consistency. Subsequent storage of the specimens was done in a bottle cooler at 4°C, thus avoiding wet formalin storage. Tissue pieces from these organs were collected after a month to ensure the effect of fixation. Routine histological processing and sectioning were done. The stained sections showed normal histoarchitecture which confirmed that organ embalming by perfusion technique fixed the tissues, similar to the fixed organs collected from a purposely sacrificed and embalmed animal. The organs prepared in this manner can be used for teaching both gross and microscopic anatomy. These organs can further be used for preparation of dried specimens by plastination techniques.