RADIAL ARTERY USE IN BYPASS-GRAFTING DOES NOT CHANGE DIGITAL BLOOD-FLOW OR HAND FUNCTION

Background. Patient selection criteria have not been clearly establish ed for use of the radial artery as a bypass conduit. To help establish such criteria, we measured changes in digital blood now and hand func tion after radial artery removal. Methods. Ninety-eight patients of th e first 122 consecutive patients considered for radial artery harvest met predetermined criteria by vascular noninvasive studies to undergo removal of the radial artery. In 42 of these 98 patients, the radial a rtery was actually used as a bypass conduit; 28 of these 42 patients r eturned for noninvasive vascular studies, a critical review of hand fu nction, and a hand symptom questionnaire. Results. There were no signi ficant differences between the operated and nonoperated hands for digi tal-brachial indices, cold response, grip or pinch strength, digital t wo-point discrimination, or nine-hole peg tests. The patients had an i ncreased incidence of a small amount of forearm numbness and tingling, but no increase of pain or cold intolerance. Conclusions. For properl y selected patients, there are minimal changes in hand function after radial artery removal. (C) 1998 by The Society of Thoracic Surgeons.