Abstract: Objective To explore a simple and effective method for preparing paraffin tissue sections using specimens of tibia bone cancer pain in rats. Methods Specimens of tibia bone were obtained from the rats of bone cancer pain model group and normal group. The specimens were decalcified with the heated ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA), followed by the dehydration and clearing with N-butanol instead of traditional methods of decalcification in strong acid, dehydration through absolute alcohol and clearing in xylene. The specimens were stained with hematoxylin and eosin. Results The morphological structures of specimens in both groups were intactly preserved. Compared with the traditional method, the present method had the following advantages: the procedure was simple, the duration of dehydration and clearing was more flexible, and the paraffin blocks shown a better cutting performance. Conclusion It is a suitable and reliable method to jointly use EDTA and n-butanol in preparing paraffin tissue sections using specimens of tibial bone cancer pain in rats.

Key words: Tibia bone cancer pain, Ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid, N-butanol, Paraffin section, HE staining, Rat