Fluid–structure interaction in aortic cross-clamping: Implications for vessel injury

Vascular cross-clamping is applied in many cardiovascular surgeries such as coronary bypass, aorta repair and valve procedures. Experimental studies have found that clamping of various degrees caused damage to arteries. This study examines the effects of popular clamps on vessel wall. Models of the aorta and clamp were created in Computer Assisted Design and Finite Element Analysis packages. The vessel wall was considered as a non-linear anisotropic material while the fluid was simulated as Newtonian with pulsatile flow. The clamp was applied through displacement time function. Fully coupled two-way solid–fluid interaction models were developed. It was found that the clamp design significantly affected the stresses in vessel wall. The clamp with a protrusion feature increased the overall Von Mises stress by about 60% and the compressive stress by more than 200%. Interestingly, when the protrusion clamp was applied, the Von Mises stress at the lumen (endothelium) side of artery wall was about twice that of the outer wall. This ratio was much higher than that of the plate-like clamp which was about 1.3. The flow reversal process was demonstrated during clamping. Vibrations, flow and wall shear stress oscillations were detected immediately before total vessel occlusion. The commonly used protrusion clamp increased stresses in vessel wall, especially the compressive stress. This design also significantly increased the stresses on endothelium, detrimental to vessel health. The present findings are relevant to surgical clamp design as well as the transient mechanical loading on the endothelium and potential injury. The deformation and stress analysis may provide valuable insights into the mode of tissue injury during cross-clamping.