title: Changes in blood flow in the epigastric free flap after microsurgical artery anastomoses in rats.
abstract: A number of clinical disorders of free vascularized flap are presumed to reflect insufficient blood flow (BF) or an inadequate range of vascular responsiveness. We compared the changes in BF in a pedicled and free epigastric flap, directly after and 90 min after performing microsurgical artery anastomoses. We used the clamping method and laser Doppler flowmetry in six Sprague-Dawley rats. The BF response curves shortly after re-anastomosing of the artery differ markedly from those in a pedicled flap model and curves registered 90 min after performing the anastomosis. We conclude that the clamping method is reliable and reproducible when studying the short-term autoregulatory BF patterns of epigastric pedicled and free flaps.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Turku University Central Hospital, Finland.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Kinnunen
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Laurikainen
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Schrey
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Aitasalo
mesh_terms: D000714:Anastomosis, Surgical / Q000379:methods*; D000818:Animals; D019074:Epigastric Arteries / Q000601:surgery*; D006706:Homeostasis / Q000502:physiology; D017078:Laser-Doppler Flowmetry; D008866:Microsurgery / Q000379:methods*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D013524:Surgical Flaps / Q000098:blood supply*; D013997:Time Factors