Internal thoracic artery holder for coronary artery bypass grafting

An arterial and venous graft holder for coronary artery bypass grafting

An innovative arterial and venous graft holder has been developed for use during proximal and distal anastomosis in coronary artery bypass grafting. The device consists of a flexible arm and a handle. The handle in turn is composed of three parts: (1) a T-shaped body, (2) an atraumatic clip for holding the graft, and (3) a coronary probe attached by an adjustable fixation screw to the body. The handle can be used to easily hold the graft either by an assistant or attached to a flexible arm. The flexible arm can be used while attached to a standard sternal retractor or a railway sternal retractor. It facilitates opening the heel of the graft and stitching the most difficult angle of the anastomosis. This new instrument provides excellent exposure and a more comfortable anastomosis.

Hammock-like Graft-Holding Method Using a Cotton Bandage in Off-Pump Coronary Artery Bypass

A simple and inexpensive new graft-holding method is described. This method requires only a cotton bandage to hold the skeletonized graft in off-pump coronary artery bypass. A wet cotton bandage hung between the blades of a retractor can hold grafts in an atraumatic fashion at the center of the operating field and facilitate anastomosis during off-pump coronary artery bypass.