Non-Suturing Microvascular Anastomosis In Maxillofacial Reconstruction- A Comparative Study

Summary Aim The aim of the study is to compare the advantages and disadvantages of non-suturing anastomotic methods over conventional microsuturing for microvascular venous anastomosis. Materials and methods All patients reporting to the institute for hard and soft tissue reconstruction (Primary/secondary) were enrolled in the study. Patients with systemic comorbidities, peripheral vascular diseases, or anatomical aberration of the indicated donor site were excluded from the study. The patients selected for the study were randomly allocated to five groups of different techniques of venous anastomosis, namely Group I (conventional microsuturing), II (fibrin sealant reinforced microsuturing), III (couplers), IV (staplers), V (Laser Assisted Vascular Anastomosis (LAVA). Intraoperative anastomotic time, flap ischaemic time, patency and leakage were the parameters that were assessed for all five groups. Results 80 Patients were randomly allocated to five groups and each group comprised 16 patients. The mean ischaemic time and standard deviation of Group I and Group II were 256.19±10.622 mins and 255.19±11.083 mins, and for groups III, IV, and V were 193.38±9.972 mins, 139.06±6.413 mins, and 139.31±6.364 mins respectively (p Conclusion Based on the results of the study, non-suturing techniques should be preferred over microsuturing technique whenever appropriate for venous anastomosis.