Intra-abdominal Versus Descending Thoracic Cannulation Techniques for Abdominal Normothermic Regional Perfusion.

Abstract

Background: Abdominal normothermic regional perfusion (A-NRP) is postmortem perfusion of organs in the abdominal cavity and can be performed using multiple approaches, including femoral, intra-abdominal, and thoracic. Our program began with surgeons performing intra-abdominal cannulations with mechanical or balloon occlusion of the descending thoracic aorta for A-NRP procedures. Recently, we developed a novel technique using the descending thoracic aorta for arterial cannulation with right atrial venous drainage. Methods: All A-NRP cases performed by Regional Perfusion Services from July 1, 2024, to June 30, 2025, were retrospectively reviewed. Intraoperative parameters were collected for comparison. Results: < 0.001). The learning curves show a quicker descent in time and a lower nadir for the DT-NRP cases, indicating this technique may have a quicker learning curve and be a more efficient approach to cannulation. Conclusions: DT-NRP cannulation can be implemented for A-NRP with a quick learning curve, providing an additional cannulation option to the IA-NRP approach.