Rib transposition vascularized bone grafts. Hemodynamic assessment of donor rib graft and recipient vertebral body.

Twelve canine rib transposition grafts were harvested and evaluated for preservation of subperiosteal and medullary canal blood flow using the hydrogen washout technique. Blood flow using hydrogen washout technique also was studied in the T11 vertebral body. The mean hydrogen washout blood flow was 0.201 ml/min/ml tissue for the subperiosteal rib measurement, 0.058 ml/min/ml tissue for a rib medullary measurement, and 0.085 ml/min/ml tissue for the vertebral body. The medullary canal hydrogen washout values were consistently less than the subperiosteal values. The results have demonstrated that the blood supply to the vascularized rib pedicle can be retained and quantitated in harvesting the rib graft using the hydrogen washout technique.