SIMULTANEOUS LIGATION OF VEIN AND ARTERY

Abstract

Makins called attention to the possible advantage of simultaneous ligature of the accompanying vein if an artery is occluded. In his Hunterian Oration, Makins¹makes the following statement: These considerations lead me not only to regard obligatory simultaneous occlusion of a main artery and vein as a negligible factor in the risk of gangrene of the limb, but to hold further that the procedure is preferable whether the vein be wounded or not, the result of the combined procedure being to maintain within the limb for a longer period of time the smaller amount of blood supplied by the collateral circulation. Oeppel²ascribed the good results which sometimes follow operative arteriovenous anastomosis (the operation also known as reversal of the circulation) to the fact that such a procedure obstructs the vein, and he was led to substitute simple occlusion of the vein to accomplish the same result. La