title: Precision of suture placement with microscope- and loupe-assisted anastomoses.
abstract: Twenty-eight anastomoses involving seven surgeons were done on 2 mm Gortex vascular prostheses to test the effect of magnification on the precision of suture placement. One-half were done with 3.5-4x prism loupe magnification and the other one-half with 8-30x microscope magnification. The variability of suture placement (defined here as precision) was measured in a blinded fashion. The mean suture puncture to prosthesis edge measurement for the microscope-assisted group was approximately 0.03 mm closer to the edge. The variability from the mean for the microscope-assisted group was approximately 0.01 mm less than that for the loupe-assisted group. This difference was statistically significant at a P value of 0.0123.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedics, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA.
authors.forename: M D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Rooks
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Slappey
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Zusmanis
mesh_terms: D000714:Anastomosis, Surgical / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods; D001807:Blood Vessel Prosthesis; D006801:Humans; D007909:Lenses; D008853:Microscopy; D008866:Microsurgery / Q000379:methods; D013536:Suture Techniques; D014656:Vascular Surgical Procedures / Q000379:methods*