The Evaluation of Microanastomoses in Rats with Color Doppler Ultrasonography

As microvascular surgery increases in popularity, the need for techniques to monitor the patency of small blood vessels after operation has assumed increasing importance. The ideal monitoring technique must be readily available, simple, quick, non-invasive and inexpensive and have a high accuracy rate. Harrison et al. have defined some of these properties of ideal monitoring, but currently there is no ideal method (1). There are numerous methods for monitoring vascular patency, such as angiography, laser Doppler, oximetry, fluorescein and thermometry, but no technique which fulfills all of the ideal criteria has yet been devised (1-7). Currently, laser Doppler imaging is the most popular monitoring technique, as described by Copeland; however, the set up may cost over US $30,000 (2). Color Doppler sonography equipment with a higher frequency transducer is available in every university hospital for multipurpose usage, and it is a relatively inexpensive monitoring technique. We used Doppler ultrasonography to evaluate the patency of microanastomoses in an experimental animal model and would like to present herein our results. Materials and Methods