Vascular anastomosis

A vascular anastomosis is a surgical procedure that is used to connect vessels to each other. Vascular procedures that require an anastomosis include: Coronary artery bypass surgery to treat a blocked artery supplying the heart. Connecting an artery to a vein for hemodialysis access.

Rat Model for Practicing Microsurgical Vascular Anastomosis.

The first vascular anastomosis was detailed by Eck in 1877 with his operation on dogs to create a side-to-side anastomosis of the hepatic vein to the inferior caval vein (later known as the Eck fistula). Of the 8 dogs undergoing this procedure, 7 died in 1 week and 1 lived briefly before running away ¹⁾.