OBJECTIVE To investigate the surgical technique of establishing a reliable rat model of orthotopic liver transplantation. METHODS A total of 200 adult male SD rats weighing 200-250 g and 60 adult male Wistar rats weighing 230-280 g were adopted. The weight of donor was 30 g less than that of receptor. Syngeneic group of SD-SD rats (SD-SD group, n = 70) and allogeneic group of SD-Wistar rats (SD-Wistar group, n = 60) liver transplantation were performed, respectively. Orthotopic liver transplantations in rats were performed using modified Kamada's two-cuff technique. Under the sufficient exposure of the porta hepatis, the liver was perfused through the cold of perfusion of portal vein without touching the liver. The anastomosis of the suprahepatic vena cave was sutured end- to-end with 8-0 prolene line. Guided by double line, the continuity of portal vein was established by cuff method easily. The fluid was supplemented sufficiently after operation to maintain the stabilization of hemodynamics. RESULTS The time for donor operation and receptor operation was (38.2 +/- 2.5) minutes and (45.6 +/- 3.5) minutes, and anhepatic time was (15.1 +/- 2.2) minutes.The successful rate was 93%. The survival rate after 1 week was 92%. There was a significant difference when compared with traditional method (P < 0.05). There were 64 survivals in SD-SD group and 57 in SD-Wistar group after liver transplantation, and the survival time was 2-9 months (mean 145 days) and 8-20 days (mean 10.5 days) respectively. The liver function recovered well in SD-SD group, while in SD-Wistar group the liver functional failure and acute rejection occurred in pathology 3-5 days after liver transplantation, all of which ended with death without any therapy. CONCLUSIONS The modified method is proved to be ideal for its advantages of simple operation, short anhepatic phase and high operative successful rate.