Utility of doppler study of the arterial system of the upper limb prior to radial artery harvesting in coronary bypass candidates

ABSTRACT

Preoperative evaluation of the arterial system of the non-dominant upper limb in RA harvesting candidates to estimate the compliance of the ulnar artery to receive the entire flow from the brachial artery for better case selection to avoid post-operative ischaemic complications in the used upper limb. Doppler and/or Power Doppler examination were performed prior to surgery to evaluate the arterial system of the non-dominant upper limbs of 32 patients admitted as candidates for radial artery harvesting for coronary bypass surgery. The state of radial artery removal was imitated by RAC at the wrist. The PSV, EDV and RI were estimated under basal conditions and during RAC. The readings were collected, tabulated and compared to previous reports and accordingly some of the candidates were excluded from RA harvesting owing to significant expectations of upper limb ischaemic manifestations following RA removal. Doppler and/or power Doppler is a very useful preoperative screening test for better selection of candidates for RA harvesting for coronary bypass surgery to avoid post-operative upper limb ischaemic manifestations following RA removal