title: Development of a suturing device for anastomosis for small caliber arteries.
abstract: The use of minimally invasive and robotic operations has been increasing for coronary artery bypass surgery; however, no suturing devices have been universally adopted for use in these procedures. We developed a new suturing device that enables omission of manual ligation after a running suture. Twenty-two rabbits were used in this study. In 22 rabbits, the right carotid artery was bypassed using an autologous jugular vein graft. Half of the animals were operated on using the new device and the other half using conventional suturing methods. Postoperative evaluations were performed at 1, 3, and 6 months. Suturing time was 15.6 ± 2.4 min in the device group and 16.6 ± 4.4 min in the control group (p = 0.34). Graft patency and blood flow measurements were not significantly different between the two groups. Histopathological examination of the anastomotic site showed common inflammatory responses in both groups. No particular histopathological change was seen related to the device. In conclusion, the safety of the new suturing device was confirmed, and its efficacy was equal to that of the conventional suturing technique.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiac Surgery, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, Japan, inguinail@yahoo.co.jp.
authors.forename: Yoshifumi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Itoda
authors.forename: Nirmal
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Panthee
authors.forename: Tsuruhito
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.forename: Takehiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ando
authors.forename: Ichiro
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Sakuma
authors.forename: Minoru
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ono
mesh_terms: D000714:Anastomosis, Surgical / Q000295:instrumentation; D000818:Animals; D002339:Carotid Arteries / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D008297:Male; D011817:Rabbits; D011859:Radiography; D013536:Suture Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation*; D058017:Vascular Grafting / Q000295:instrumentation*