Suture of Blood-Vessels and Transplantation of Org...
The idea of replacing diseased organs by sound ones，of putting back an amputated[6]limb or even of grafting a new limb on to a patient who has undergone an amputation，is far from being original.Many surgeons before me have had this idea，but they were prevented from applying it，owing to the lack of a method for reestablishing immediately a normal circulation through the transplanted structures.It was of funda-mental importance to first discover a suitable method of uniting the blood-vessels of the new organ to those of its host.In 1902，therefore，I began to investigate by what means a vascular anastomosis[7]might be effected without producing either stenosis or thrombosis.Many surgeons had previously to myself performed vascular anastomosis，but the results were far from satisfactory.I began by using Payr's and Murphy's methods，after which I proceeded to study the principles for a new technique on human cadavers.I next performed some vascular anastomoses on living dogs at the University of Lyons in the laboratory of Professor Soulier and with the collaboration of Dr.Morel.This study was continued at the University of Chicago in Professor Stewart's laboratory and with the collaboration of Dr.Guthrie.Later，at the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research，the causes of all possible complications were analysed and greater perfection of methods was obtained.With this modified technique a great many experimental operations were performed and their clinical and anatomical results were observed during a period of three and four years.As a result the study of vascular anastomosis can today be considered as completed from the standpoints both of the technique and of the experimental results.