Spherical dilators to resolve arterial spasm.

Arterial spasms developing during microsurgical vascular anastomoses can be a difficult problem. We have been using specially developed spherical dilators in clinical practice to remove spasm that do not respond to the application of warm saline with lidocain. Dilating the spastic segment of the vessel two or three times with the instrument will usually relieve the spasm. Experimental testing of the method on the rat carotid artery has shown that using the dilator three times causes only moderate damage to the endothelium, which is largely overcome within one week. Thrombosis of the dilated artery was never seen in experimental studies and clinical use.