Objective To investigate the surgical technique of establ ishing a rel iable rat model of orthotopic l ivertransplantation. Methods A total of 200 adult male SD rats weighing 200-250 g and 60 adult male Wistar rats weighing230-280 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) l iver transplantation were performed, respectively. Orthotopic l iver transplantations in rats were performed using modified Kamada’s two-cuff technique. Under the sufficient exposure of the porta hepatis, the l iver was perfused through the cold of perfusion of portal vein without touching the l iver. The anastomosis of the suprahepatic vena cave was sutured end- to-end with 8-0 prolene l ine. Guided by double l ine, the continuity of portal vein was establ ished by cuff method easily. The fluid was supplemented sufficiently after operation to maintain the stabil ization 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 lt; 0.05). There were 64 survivals in SDSD group and 57 in SD-Wistar group after l iver transplantation, and the survival time was 2-9 months (mean 145 days) and 8-20 days (mean 10.5 days) respectively. The l iver function recovered well in SD-SD group, while in SD-Wistar group the l iver functional failure and acute rejection occurred in pathology 3-5 days after l iver transplantation, all of which ended with death without any therapy. Conclusion The modified method is proved to be ideal for its advantages of simple operation, short anhepatic phase and high operative successful rate.