Microvascular carotid end‐to‐end anastomosis with the Argon laser

Abstract

Abstract A carotid end‐to‐end anastomosis was performed in 50 Wistar rats (mean weight 260 g) by means of a Coherent 900 Argon laser. A micromanipulator coupled to an operating Zeiss OPMI 1 microscope provided a beam with a focused spot of 150 μm in diameter. After 2 stitches were made (180° apart from each other) to obtain good adjustment of the arterial ends, vessel anastomosis was achieved on common carotids (0.7–1.2 mm in diameter) using 19 laser shots of a mean power output of 300 milliwatts (mW) (1,700 W/cm 2 ) for 5 sec. Good vascular flow was confirmed by Doppler spectral analysis and angiography performed on day 0, 3, 10, 20, and so forth up to 7 months. Light and scanning electron microscopy showed that the heating effects of the Argon laser caused collagenous fusion of the media on day 0, while the sealing line became reendothelialized on day 10. The patency rate was 76%. Complications such as thrombosis, disruption, and aneurysm must be attributed to initial technical drawbacks.