It is reassuring for the surgeon, especially in obese patients, to see active pulsations at the anastomotic site, and the surgeon should take the time to free the mobilized colon and to loosen any tension on the middle colic vessels. Procaine, 1 percent, can be injected into the mesentery to strengthen pulsations in elderly patients or in the presence of large fat deposits in the mesentery (Figure 11). The Doppler apparatus may be used to verify the adequacy of the blood supply. The small bowel should be returned to the abdomen from the plastic bag, since the base of the mesentery of the small intestine can compress the middle colic vessels, particularly if the small intestine is placed on the abdominal wall above and to the right of the umbilicus (Figure 12). The blood supply improves as the colon resection nears the middle colic vessels, since the descending colon is now dependent upon the marginal vessels of Drummond arising from the middle colic vessels (Figure 12). The entire transverse colon as well as the right colon may be mobilized by detaching the omentum and the peritoneal attachments as indicated by the dotted line (Figure 12).