A NONSUTURE METHOD OF BLOOD VESSEL ANASTOMOSIS

Abstract

In the early spring of 1942 we directed our efforts in search of a simple and yet efficient method of anastomosing damaged (severed) arteries adaptable to war use. An early start seemed timely. An opportunity would thus be afforded to indoctrinate those few basic principles in blood vessel surgery without which no technic of blood vessel anastomosis could possibly succeed when employed on a large scale, however simple in its execution. The anatomic arrangement of collateral blood vessels in relation to main arteries in human extremities is such that war missiles causing damage to main arteries, of necessity, cause more or less damage to collateral vessels. There is, unfortunately, an anatomic limit to the number of collateral vessels that can be damaged and yet have a limb survive ligation of a damaged artery. In this war, then, with effective treatment for shock, control of infection and vasospasm—adjuncts known to promote