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Vascular thrombosis is a major cause of morbidity and death. Because of the many variables involved with thrombosis in patients, major advances in treatment often depend upon design and study of adequate experimental models which provide a degree of control of the variables. Arterial trauma was produced in small femoral arteries 3 mm. or less in diameter by a standardized intimectomy technique. One group of animals was treated with an equal volume of saline and served as controls. Serial sections of blood vessels at graded time intervals from one hour to 90 days were studied. The damaged blood vessels of dextran-treated animals did not thrombose and provided an opportunity for studying the mechanism of healing in traumatized blood vessels which remained patent. The damaged blood vessels of saline-treated animals uniformly thrombosed and eventually healed for scar formation with evidences of attempts at recanalization. The blood vessels of dextran-treated animals remained open for as long as 90 days and were re-endothelialized and healed. What appears to be beginning re-endothelialization of blood vessels of dextran-treated animals was observed as early as 48 hours. In a model experimental setting, dextran has been shown to prevent thrombosis and permit healing in small arteries subjected to a standardized surgical trauma.