THE EFFECT OF HEPARIN AFTER MICROSURGICAL REPAIR IN TRAUMATICALLY DAMAGED ARTERIES

A main consideration of microvascular surgery is the avoidance of thro mbosis. This traditionally involves the avoidance of thrombogenic trau ma, the establishment of normal blood flow and full vessel diameter, a s well as the use of anticoagulants, such as heparin, as an antithromb otic measure. In the present study we assessed the effectiveness of he parin in maintaining patency in the femoral arteries of rats which hav e undergone a crush injury with damage to the intima and media layers of the wall. To accomplish this, the animals were treated with heparin 150 units or 300 units twice daily following microvascular repair usi ng standard microsurgical techniques. Control animals received no trea tment. The results of this study indicate that the number of patencies in experimentally-injured femoral arteries did not improve significan tly following heparin treatment, although pharmacological doses of hep arin (300 units twice daily) were associated with a somewhat lower rat e of occlusions. We conclude that heparin appears unable to significan tly prevent clotting in Vessels which have experienced severe trauma t o the intima and media layers.