Testing and treatment of arterial graft thrombosis

The in vivo technique of Sauvage et al for determining prosthetic arterial graft thrombogenicity was employed in the sheep carotid model using 4 mm commercial expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (Gore-Tex) grafts. Expanded polytetrafluoroethylene was found to be thrombogenic at 4 hours of low flow in this model. At 24 hours all of these grafts were totally occluded at low flow rates. Intravenous use of ibuprofen (Motrin), a thromboxane inhibitor, in this model markedly reduced occlusion and thrombogenicity at 4 and 24 hours. All grafts were patent at 24 hours when ibuprofen was used.