Vascular injuries of the extremities can result from fractures, severe crush injuries, lacerations, and even iatrogenic causes, such as surgical interventions. Its prevalence is about 3% in the general population with increased incidence during times of war. Patients affected by vascular injuries can have significant morbidities, including cold intolerance, pain, sensory abnormalities, and weakness of the affected limb. Even after repair of the affected artery, patients may still experience paresthesias, motor function abnormalities and pain and cold intolerance. These symptoms are particularly relevant in the case of arm arterial repairs because this repair directly affects the function of the hand. Different techniques of arterial repair have evolved over time. Venous grafts (i.e. saphenous and dorsal hand veins) can be employed to repair the damaged vessel. Although most appropriate for treating long gaps, vein grafts have several disadvantages. There is often a diameter mismatch between the harvested vein and the damaged artery which can compromise the repair site. Furthermore, veins are more compliant and have higher volume storage capabilities than their arterial counterparts. These inherent venous qualities can alter blood flow to the limb causing stasis, turbulence, and eventually, stenosis of the graft. Other methodologies have been developed in an effort to balance the negatives associated with venous grafting, including synthetic graft use, arterial ligation, end-to-side anastomosis, and end-to-end repair. Despite available interventions and advances in microsurgical technique, arterial repair in the arm, can still result in significant functional impairment of the upper extremity. The hand is highly perfused with a dual arterial system that arches across the dorsal and palmar surface of the hand. Once an upper extremity artery is compromised, a surgeon's primary goal is to restore blood flow to the hand so as to prevent impairment. Despite a surgeon's best efforts, long term (greater than 6 months) outcomes are hard to predict. Furthermore, the patency rates of the arterial repair have been consistently reported at approximately 50%. We believe that the long term patency of the upper extremity artery has a direct effect on a patient's perceived pain and cold intolerance, sensibility, and motor function of the hand. Our hypothesis is that repaired arteries in the upper extremity will have an occlusion rate of 50% in the long term (greater than 6 months post-surgery) and that this occlusion is responsible for motor and sensory function abnormalities, pain, and cold-intolerance. We will use high resolution duplex Doppler ultrasound to investigate occlusion rates of repaired arteries and compare those to the unaffected contralateral arteries (internal control). Questionnaires, including the DASH (disabilities of the arm, shoulder, and hand), CISS (Cold Intolerance Symptom Severity Questionnaire), and Michigan hand score, will be used to assess pain, cold intolerance, sensory, and motor impairments in both the affected and unaffected hand. Functional assessments will include 2-point discrimination, grip strength, pinch strength, capillary refill and range of motion.
