title: Long-term arm morbidity after radial artery harvesting for coronary bypass operation.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The use of the radial artery (RA) in coronary bypass operations has become increasingly popular in recent years, but there is almost no documentation regarding the midterm and long-term arm complications.
  
  
  METHODS
  Between January 1 and December 31, 1998, 109 patients underwent operations for myocardial revascularization employing a pedicled RA as 1 of the coronary grafts. The patients were surveyed for subjective arm morbidities at 2 times during their follow-up: short term (mean, 7 months postoperatively; range, 0.3-14 months) and long term (mean, 49 months postoperatively; range, 46-57 months).
  
  
  RESULTS
  At the short-term follow-up, 33 (33.3%) of the patients had some complaints regarding the arm that was operated on, with 4 (4%) of the patients reporting arm disability with complaints that focused on pain (11, 11%), numbness (15, 15%), and parasthesias (12, 12%). At the longterm follow-up, only 9 patients (10.5%) still experienced some sort of inconvenience with the arm that was operated on, with 1 case of functional disability, 4 complaints (4.6%) of residual parasthesias, and 1 report (2.3%) each of pain or numbness. All but 2 of the patients with complaints at the short-term follow-up reported amelioration of symptoms at the long-term follow-up.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  It appears that severe arm disability early after RA harvesting is likely to dissolve with time. Our favorable late follow-up results support the continuation of the employment of the RA as a conduit for coronary artery bypass grafting operations.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, and the Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv. ybengal@inter.net.il
authors.forename: Yanai
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ben Gal
authors.forename: Leonid
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Sternik
authors.forename: Amihay
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Shinfeld
authors.forename: Chaim
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Locker
authors.forename: Dimitry
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Pevni
authors.forename: Nachum
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Nesher
authors.forename: Yigal
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kassif
authors.forename: Aram K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Smolinsky
authors.forename: Jacob
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lavee
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001132:Arm / Q000098:blood supply*; D001026:Coronary Artery Bypass / Q000009:adverse effects*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007511:Ischemia / Q000209:etiology*; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D010291:Paresis / Q000209:etiology*; D017534:Radial Artery / Q000637:transplantation*; D020858:Tissue and Organ Harvesting / Q000009:adverse effects*; D016896:Treatment Outcome