VEIN GRAFTING WITH THE TELESCOPING ANASTOMOTIC TECHNIQUE FOR VENOUS DEFECTS

The telescoping anastomotic technique was used at both ends of autogen ous vein grafts bridging a defect in slow-running, vulnerable veins. T his was done on left epigastric veins of the rat, the central part of which was used as a graft. In the right epigastric veins, both the pro ximal and distal anastomoses mere repaired using the conventional anas tomotic technique. The overall patency rate of the grafts repaired wit h the telescoping anastomotic technique was 27/29 (93.3%) compared to 17/28 (60.7%) in the conventional group. The telescoping technique was also easier to perform than the conventional method.