Economic Comparison of Hand-Sutured and Coupler-Assisted Microvascular Anastomoses.

INTRODUCTION: Surgical outcomes associated with the use of microvascular anastomotic coupling devices (MACD) are well reported in the literature – compared with hand-sutured anastomoses, MACDs confer equivalent flap survival1,2 with reduced operative time.3,4 The purpose of this study was to assess the economics of a hand-sutured anastomosis compared with a coupler-assisted anastomosis. Following up on our previous study that focused on the economics in a Canadian context,5 we expanded the scope of our research to include the American market.