[Hemodynamic and clinical studies following injury of the arteries of the forearm].

Forearm arterial injury usually does not lead to acute ischemia, but a functional deficit may develop. We tried to evaluate the need for two patent forearm arteries using rheological, Doppler sonographical and clinical parameters. Twenty-seven patients were examined after arterial and/or nerve injury in the forearm as well as six patients in whom a forearm flap was harvested. In seventeen patients both arteries were patent after primary reconstruction. Nine patients showed only one patent artery, while in the six patients with a forearm flap the radial artery was reconstructed in only one case. We found a decreased skin temperature in cases with artery and nerve injury. If both structures were reconstructed, the difference was not significant. The pressure of the finger collateral arteries and of the forearm arteries as well as the rheological investigation did not show any difference. The two-point discrimination, reflecting the nerve regeneration, was not affected, if one or two arteries had been reconstructed. Pain following exercise rarely occurred if both arteries of the forearm were patent. Because of the positive effect on skin temperature and of the reduced pain following exercise, reconstruction of both forearm arteries should be considered. Furthermore, the possibility of a subsequent arterial injury has to be taken into account.