MILKING DILATATION - A PILOT-STUDY

Under certain circumstances during microsurgical anastomosis, vasospas m may persist, despite the use of multiple topical vasodilators. Mecha nical dilatation may be needed but is difficult to perform in vessels smaller than 1 mm in diameter. Milking dilatation, a simple maneuver s imilar to a milking patency test, is introduced and tested for vessels of such a size. The femoral arteries of 10 Sprague-Dawley rats were u sed. Milking dilation was performed on both sides, and a forceful milk ing dilation method was also used 10 times on one side subsequently. T he dilated segments demonstrated a 67.3 percent (29 to 100 percent) in crease in their original sizes. The vessels were all patent, with no g ross signs of thrombosis or aneurysm formation, when exposed immediate ly, 1 week, and 4 weeks post procedure. Half of the dilated segments, even those forcefully dilated, returned to their normal size at 4 week s; the remainder were still dilated. The results of this study demonst rated that milking dilatation is effective and safe for dilating arter ies about I mm in diameter or less. However, further study is required before any long-term conclusions can be drawn.