Abstract
Background: Plastination produces durable, odorless, and realistic teaching specimens, and the Elnady technique provides a low-cost, room-temperature preservation method. However, the effects of acetone versus alcohol dehydration on organ-specific shrinkage, odor, texture, and realism in canine specimens using this technique remain inadequately characterized. Methods: Six canine cadavers were used to collect the head, heart, lungs and thoracic limb after fixation in 10% formalin solution. Specimens were dehydrated using either 100% acetone (T1) or 95% ethyl alcohol (T2). All organs underwent glycerin impregnation and cornstarch curing following the Elnady plastination protocol. Pre- and post-plastination measurements were recorded to assess shrinkage. Odor, texture, color, and realism were evaluated by 80 veterinary students using a Likert type scale, and data were analyzed using nonparametric tests and effect size calculations. Results: Both dehydration protocols produced dry, odorless to mildly pleasant specimens suitable for veterinary anatomical instruction. No statistically significant differences in shrinkage were observed between groups, although effect sizes indicated biologically relevant variation. Greater shrinkage was observed in the head, heart, and thoracic limb with acetone, while lungs showed greater shrinkage with alcohol. Realism scores were comparable for the head and heart, but differed significantly in the lungs and thoracic limb. Acetone-treated thoracic limb demonstrated higher realism, while lung realism remained similar between treatments despite shrinkage differences. Conclusions: This preliminary study suggests that both acetone and 95% ethyl alcohol are suitable dehydration agents for plastination using the Elnady technique. Organ-specific differences were observed, particularly greater shrinkage of lungs dehydrated with alcohol and higher realism scores for acetone-dehydrated thoracic limbs. Because of the limited sample size, further studies with larger numbers of specimens are needed to confirm these findings.
Keywords
Plastination; Elnady technique; Canine anatomy; Dehydration methods