title: Milking dilatation: a pilot study.
abstract: Under certain circumstances during microsurgical anastomosis, vasospasm may persist, despite the use of multiple topical vasodilators. Mechanical dilatation may be needed but is difficult to perform in vessels smaller than 1 mm in diameter. Milking dilatation, a simple maneuver similar to a milking patency test, is introduced and tested for vessels of such a size. The femoral arteries of 10 Sprague-Dawley rats were used. Milking dilation was performed on both sides, and a forceful milking dilation method was also used 10 times on one side subsequently. The dilated segments demonstrated a 67.3 percent (29 to 100 percent) increase in their original sizes. The vessels were all patent, with no gross signs of thrombosis or aneurysm formation, when exposed immediately, 1 week, and 4 weeks post procedure. Half of the dilated segments, even those forcefully dilated, returned to their normal size at 4 weeks; the remainder were still dilated. The results of this study demonstrated that milking dilatation is effective and safe for dilating arteries about I mm in diameter or less. However, further study is required before any long-term conclusions can be drawn.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Southern California, and Orthopaedic Hospital, Los Angeles 90033, USA.
authors.forename: J Y
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Bao
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sherman
mesh_terms: D000714:Anastomosis, Surgical; D000818:Animals; D004106:Dilatation / Q000379:methods; D005263:Femoral Artery / Q000601:surgery*; D007430:Intraoperative Care / Q000379:methods; D010865:Pilot Projects; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D014654:Vascular Patency; D014656:Vascular Surgical Procedures / Q000379:methods*