Plastination: a novel approach to cadavar scarcity in Nigeria

Abstract

Cadaveric dissection has always been an integral part of medical education being used for teaching Anatomy, Surgery, Pathology, Radiology, Medical and Biomedical Research in Nigeria higher institutions of learning. However, it is undeniable that Nigeria Universities had been facing a lot of challenges in acquiring cadavers. In view of this scarcity of bodies, organs and tissues for studies, teaching and research, newer techniques of preserving biological tissues for long duration such as plastination is important. Thus, this review elaborates and identifies problems in cadaver acquisition in Nigeria, suggests better preservative technique of cadaver and identifies possible limitations to the practice of the suggested technique and proper possible solutions to the limitations.

Keywords: Plastination, Cadaver, Anatomy, Preservative