POOR SURGICAL TECHNIQUE PRODUCES MORE EMBOLI AFTER ARTERIAL ANASTOMOSIS OF AN ISLAND FLAP

To answer the question "Are more emboli produced after a small artery anastomosis has been performed poorly?", we used the isolated rat cremaster muscle. The number of emboli seen downstream from a small artery anastomosis were counted after using two anastomotic techniques. Direct observations using intravital microscopy of emboli passing through the principal arteriole of the cremaster revealed that surgical technique using a large needle (poor execution) caused a significantly higher number of emboli to be produced at the site of small artery anastomosis than was noted after a fine needle technique.