Comparative study between acute intraoperative arterial elongation and the use of the interpositional vein graft for arterial reconstruction

This study compares the acute intraoperative arterial elongation technique with the interposition vein-graft method for the closure of small arterial gaps that cannot be repaired by undermining alone. Ten conditioned female mongrel dogs were divided into two groups: a vein graft interposition group and an acute expansion-elongation group. In ten cases, a 25-mm segment of the superficial femoral artery was excised. The resultant defect, measuring 45 to 60 mm, was repaired by an interpositional graft of a comparable size segment of the superficial femoral vein. In ten other cases, a same-size defect was repaired by a tension-free end-to-end anastomosis, following acute intraoperative arterial elongation. The animals were explored at various intervals. Overall results revealed a 100 percent patency rate with the acute expansion-elongation group vs. 80 percent with the vein-graft interposition group. The versatility, time saving, and ease of technique, plus previous clinical experience, is encouraging enough to recommend this method for the sound repair of small arterial defects in clinical cases.