Comparison of continuous and interrupted suture techniques in microvascular anastomosis.

A comparison of the continuous and the interrupted suture techniques, ten procedures each, was performed upon dogs using high frequency pulsed Doppler ultrasonography to monitor blood velocity. No statistically significant differences in the blood velocity profile were found between the two techniques. The pulsatility of the vessels after anastomosis was similar for both techniques. At follow-up examination, mean being 13 weeks, the patency rate was 100 per cent as demonstrated arteriographically for both the continuous and the interrupted techniques with statistically no significant difference in the blood velocity profile. The speed and the ease of completing a continuous anastomosis and its lack of significant hemodynamic differences compared with the interrupted technique speak well for the preferential use of the continuous suture technique.