Microsurgical repair after crush-avulsion injury of the femoral vein in rats: Prevention of microvascular thrombosis with recombinant human tissue-type plasminogen activator (rt-PA)

Vein thrombosis is often encountered in microsurgery, especially in the case of crush-avulsion injuries. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of systemic administration of recombinant tissue-type plasminogen activator (rt-PA) on the patency of the femoral vein of the rat, which had previously sustained a crush-avulsion injury. The study consisted of 3 groups of male Wistar rats, 20 animals each. A standardized crush-avulsion injury model was used. After microvascular repair of the femoral vein, the animals received either normal saline (group A), heparin 100 U/kg body weight (group B), or rt-PA 3.5 mg/kg body weight (group C) systemically. Patency tests were performed at 20 minutes, 48 hours, and 1 week after blood flow reestablishment. According to our results, the patency rate of the rt-PA group was significantly higher than in both the control and heparin groups. © 2001 Wiley Liss, Inc. MICROSURGERY 21:357–361, 2001