Lasers in microvascular surgery Available to Purchase

Lasers have been used in surgery for nearly two decades but their application in neurosurgery is more recent. Basic principles and techniques of vascular surgery had been conceived in the experimental laboratory at the turn of the century but vascular surgery as a discipline was not recognised until half a century ago. Introduction of the operating microscope in vascular surgery in 1960 (4) was an important landmark. The next important stage in the development of microvascular surgery was the introduction of lasers for repair of small blood vessels in 1978 (5,6) and the achievement of the first successful sutureless microvascular anastomosis (diameter less than 1 mm.) using Nd:YAG laser. The only previous report in literature prior to this was in 1966 with the title “Blood vessel anastomosis by Laser” (13). In this study tissue adhesives were used to glue two arteries together and laser was used to punch a hole through. Sutures were used to close the end of one of the arteries. These experiments were done on dog carotid arteries without microsurgical techniques.