Venous microanastomosis with the Unilink system, sleeve, and suture techniques: a comparative study in the rat

Multiple microvascular anastomotic techniques have been described with varying rates of success. This experimental study presents the results of a comparison of three types of venous microanastomotic techniques: the Unilink system, the sleeve technique, and the suture technique. Twenty male Sprague-Dawley rats, 40 femoral veins, were used for this study. In vivo observation and microvasculography demonstrated that patency rates between the Unilink system and suture techniques were comparable (p > 0.05) and were significantly superior to the sleeve anastomosis (p < 0.05). The anastomotic time for the sleeve technique was significantly shorter than for the suture technique (p < 0.001). Compared with suture and sleeve anastomoses, the anastomotic time employing the Unilink system was significantly the shortest (p < 0.001). The Unilink system proved to be the fastest method with the highest patency rate. These results suggest that the use of the Unilink system is superior with regard to anastomotic time and patency rate, when compared to suture and sleeve techniques for venous microanastomosis.