The "Sun window" - a simple and effective alternative to the use of background contrast material during microvascular anastomosis.

A new and simple alternative method, the "Sun window," is introduced for creating a comfortable environment while doing microvascular anastomoses. A prospective randomized study, analyzing the anastomosis time for 34 free radial forearm flaps, was conducted to validate the effectiveness of this method. The time required for doing anastomoses with and without a "Sun window" are 8.74 +/- 1.46 and 10.36 +/- 1.20, respectively, p < 0.01. The results demonstrated that the "Sun window" is an effective method for promoting the patency rate and accuracy of microvascular anastomosis.