Soft cadaveric embalming is beneficial for gross anatomy practice as well as for its low formaldehyde content. Examples of soft cadaveric embalming fluids are the Thiel solution (TS) and the newly developed saturated salt solution (SSS). In this study, we descriptively demonstrated the effects of TS, SSS, and conventional formaldehyde-based solution (FAS) on gross morphology, histology, range of motion (ROM) of joints, microbial growth and satisfactory level of five rabbit bodies. The TS embalmed rabbits demonstrated both muscular and tendon fragmentation while the SSS embalmed rabbit presented only muscular fragmentation. This finding indicated that, in order to gain the softness of tissues mimicking the in vivo conditions, these fluids could directly act through muscle and tendon fibers. By ROM measurement, the TS and SSS rabbit had greater joint flexibility than the FAS rabbit. Slight microbial growth on TS and SSS embalmed rabbit was detected. User satisfaction on various tested parameters was also reported.
