Mechanical dilator for coronary and peripheral vascular surgery.

A new type of vascular dilator for aortocoronary and peripheral vascular surgery is described. During sequential anastomosis in coronary artery bypass, the instrument allows the surgeon to incise the vessel at the selected site without damaging the opposite wall. The device also keeps the edges of the incision apart without forceps or traction sutures. In peripheral vascular surgery, the dilator is used to expand the edges of an arterial incision during patch angioplasty and end-to-end or end-to-side anastomosis.