Abdominal wall necrosis after harvest of both internal thoracic and inferior epigastric arteries
Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 5, 2026
Procurement for a Vascularized and Reinnervated Abdominal Wall Allotransplantation
Published on: July 18, 2025
David Y Johnson1, Frank E Johnson, Hendrick B Barner
1Department of Surgery, St. Louis University School of Medicine, Surgical Service, Veterans Affairs Medical Center, St. Louis, Missouri 63110, USA.
Background:
The internal thoracic artery (ITA) and inferior epigastric artery (IEA) may be used as conduits for myocardial revascularization. Harvesting the ITAs and IEAs can lead to clinically significant ischemia of the anterior abdominal wall.
Methods:
We created a registry with data from 108 patients receiving myocardial revascularization with 1 or greater ITA and (or) 1 or greater IEA. After revascularization, patients were followed to document their outcomes during hospitalization. We sought to identify risk factors for tissue necrosis in these patients.
Results:
All patients had 1 (84%) or 2 (16%) IEAs harvested. Both ITAs were utilized in 81% of patients; 19% had only the left ITA harvested. All patients in whom 2 IEAs were harvested also had 2 ITAs harvested (17 of 108). Of these 17 patients, 2 (12%) developed abdominal wall necrosis. Only patients who had bilateral ITA and bilateral IEA harvest experienced this complication.
Conclusions:
Bilateral harvest of ITAs and IEAs results in a moderate risk of clinically significant abdominal wall necrosis. The extent of tissue loss may involve skin, muscle, and fascia, but the peritoneum and posterior rectus sheath remained intact in both affected patients in this series. These data may be most valuable to those who contemplate an abdominal operation in a patient who has had one or more of their ITAs or IEAs taken.
