Multifactorial effects on the patency rates of forearm arterial repairs.

It is clear that the late clinical symptomatology and the patency of forearm arterial repairs have been contradictory. This study, during which the relationship between the symptomatology and patency has been studied, explores the influence of the local hemodynamic changes and the effect of microsurgical technique on patency rates. Thirty-five patients with a total of 44 arterial injuries were treated. Hemodynamic studies were done intraoperatively, and all patients were evaluated postoperatively with a neurologic, vascular, clinical examination and by radiodiagnostic methods. An overall patency of 77.2% was found. Color-Doppler ultrasonography (CDU) failed by 14.2% as compared with angiography, which did not fail. High blood pressure on the distal stump led to significantly reduced patency rates. Eight patients without nerve problems were found to be symptomatic as a result of the poor patency rate. Many factors are observed to influence patency rate. The nonpatent forearm artery can be symptomatic in anatomically and hemodynamically varied hands. CDU was more reliable for hemodynamic evaluation; conversely, angiography was more dependable for arterial morphology. The results of this study suggest that to correlate the clinical symptomatology and the patency rates, all arterial repairs should be assessed both clinically and radiodiagnostically. Copyright 2001 Wiley-Liss, Inc.