*Purpose: Advances in organ perfusion technology have been driven by the increasing necessity to utilise organs from donors after circulatory death (DCD) and marginal donors. Pigs are anatomically and physiologically similar to humans and are an excellent model for translational research. Experimental research is typically limited by ethical and economical issues. Here we describe a reproducible, cost-effective DCD multi-organ abdominal retrieval model of porcine organs from the slaughterhouse.

*Methods: Domestic pigs (50-70 Kg) are electrically stunned and exsanguinated through an incision of carotid artery and jugular vein, in accordance with the standard abattoir process. Via a longitudinal midline incision, the thoraco-abdominal viscera are removed en-bloc by incising along the anterior vertebral plane. The visceral block is orientented anatomically on the back-bench and the intestines removed by stapling the mesenteric root distal to the pancreas. The diaphragmatic aorta is cannulated and the abdominal organs (liver, pancreas and kidneys) are perfused. The portal vein is identified outside of the pancreas and a portal perfusion initiated.

*Results: The warm ischaemic time is kept between 15 and 30 minutes and all vessels and organs are kept intact. The aortic stump with celiac trunk and superior mesenteric artery is preserved for the pancreas, allowing a perfusion of the whole organ from a common inlet, while the common hepatic artery is used for cannulation and perfusion of the liver. The remaining renal aortic patch is evenly divided between the two kidneys. To date 17 livers, 34 kidneys and 11 pancreases were retrieved through this technique for research on perfusion.

*Conclusions: We have described a reliable and reproducible procedure for abdominal multi-organ retrieval from pigs in a slaughterhouse, which integrates seamlessly in the workflow of the abbatoir. This model represents an ethically acceptable economically advantageous approach to this rapidly expanding field of translational transplant research.

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