Suture of blood vessels
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© istockphoto / Ivan Ivanov |
Before Carrel's discoveries circulation could not be established through transplanted tissue. He developed a new surgical technique which allowed blood vessels to be attached to a functioning circulation system. Performing experiments in dogs, cats, rabbits and eventually man, he changed surgical procedure, and made it possible for lost limbs to be re-attached.
He later turned his attention to transplant surgery, and found that although it was possible with the correct technique to remove and reattach organs or limbs from an animal, that transplants between animals of the same species led to complications and rejection of the foreign tissue. He noted that different animals accepted the transplanted material with different degrees of success, and hoped that in the future they would discover why. Many of his experiments concerned kidney transplants, and the lifesaving operation which is common place today would never have been possible without his work.
(yes)Tags
Research Fields: Heart, lung & circulation, Medical technologies(yes - 2 items)Date: 1912 (required)
Scientist(s): Alexis Carrel (required)
Countries: France(yes - 1 items)
Animals Used: Rabbit, Dog, Cat(required - 3 items)
Description: Suture of blood vessels (yes)
Medical Applications: Surgery, Medicine(yes - 2 items)
