Usefulness of combined continuous suture and interrupted tie technioue in hindlimb composite tissue allotransplantation in rats

According to our experience of over 100 hindlimb transplantations, in rats, catching the posterior wall with an anterior wall suture is the most common cause of thrombosis and acute transplant failure. It is generally due to inadequate visibility of the lumen and consequent blind suture placement. With an intention to find a superior suture technique, a comparative study between standard end-to-end interrupted and combined continuous sutures and interrupted tie techniques was performed. Twenty hindlimb transplantations to rats' femoral vessels were performed in each group. Anastomosis time, patency, complications, and animal and transplant survivals were compared. In the interrupted suture group (group I), anastomosis failure was encountered in one vein, with 95% of immediate patency rate. A redo of the venous anastomosis was performed and successful. The combined suture technique (group II) had 100% patency rates without complications. The avarage time for arterial anastomosis in groups I and II was 8.5 and 8.9 min, and for venous anastomosis, 10.7 and 9.6 min, respectively. At 2 weeks, no differences were found between groups as related to transplant and animal survival.