Obstruction of the lumen by blood clotting at the suture line is the chief hazard to the physiologic function of a blood vessel the ends of which have been joined by a circular suture. That this is the greatest risk in repair of a blood vessel is emphasized by many observers. Horsley,1 Smith,2 McNealy3 and Buchanan4 agreed that thromboses occur after many arterial sutures.
With the Carrel technic in skilled hands, according to Sofoteroff,5 thrombosis occurs in a large percentage of cases. Moszkowicz6 feared the circular suture because of thrombosis. A review7 of the papers on vascular surgery written by important German surgeons and published during the World War reveals that the occurrence of early or progressive thrombosis after operations on arteries is frequent. It is a fair estimate in the opinion of that reviewer that in half of the cases in which