title: Microvascular ear replantation with no vein anastomosis.
abstract: In replantation of a totally amputated ear, the artery only was repaired with no vein repair. Venous stasis was successfully prevented by daily skin punctures during the first 4 days postoperatively. The elastic cartilage framework with no internally circulating blood constitutes the major percentage of the auricle mass. Thus the metabolic demand of the ear is relatively small, according to its small caliber nutrient vessels. Although the successful result in this single case report means neither a consistent procedure nor uniformly safe choice of treatment, the potential use of the single-artery repair with no accompanying vein anastomosis in ear replantations, we believe, deserves to be considered.
authors.affiliation: Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Safak
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ozcan
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Keçik
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gürsu
mesh_terms: D004431:Ear, External / Q000098:blood supply / Q000293:injuries* / Q000601:surgery*; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012092:Replantation / Q000379:methods*