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@#Objective To summarize the use of harmonic scalpel to harvest bilateral internal mammary artery in coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). Methods The clinical data of 54 patients of bilateral skeletonized internal mammary artery harvesting for CABG in our hospital from January 2016 to May 2020 were analyzed retrospectively. There were 51 males and 3 females with a mean age of 62.37±9.56 years. Results All patients went through the procedure unevently and discharged from hospital. The number of grafts was 4.07±0.85 per patient, the operation time was 267.21±47.00 min, mechanical ventilation time was 342.43±132.17 min and hospital stay was 12.21±4.43 d. Conclusion It is safe and effective to use harmonic scalpel to harvest skeletonized bilateral internal mammary artery in CABG.
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Background: Thyroidectomy is the most commonly performed procedure in endocrine surgery. Since the thyroid gland is highly vascular, therefore, rapid and absolute hemostasis is extremely required. Conventional thyroidectomy is commonly used with acceptable outcomes, however, it is time‑consuming and resulted in significant intraoperative blood loss with the possible risk of postoperative hemorrhage, injury to parathyroid glands and laryngeal nerves. The advent of focus harmonic devices was encouraging for improving safety, effectiveness, and reduction of operative time, especially in thyroid surgery. Aim of this study: The purpose of this study was to analyze the effectiveness and surgical outcomes of using ultrasonic harmonic scalpel for thyroid surgery compared to conventional techniques.Methods: This was a prospective, randomized study in which 60 patients with various types of goiters presented for thyroidectomy. The patients were divided into two comparable groups. Group A (30 patients) included patients who had focus harmonic thyroidectomy and Group B (30 patients) included patients who underwent conventional thyroidectomy.Results: Focus harmonic thyroidectomy showed a significant reduction in operative time, intraoperative blood loss, volume of postoperative fluid drainage and meantime for hospital stay compared with conventional thyroidectomy. There were no significant differences in the incidence of postoperative hypocalcemia, seroma, hematoma, wound infection and laryngeal nerve injury between both groups.Conclusions: Focus harmonic thyroidectomy was a safe, effective, faster, and appealing alternative to conventional technique since it reduced the operative time, intraoperative blood loss, postoperative drainage and hospital stay with comparable postoperative complications.
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Background: An estimated 3,84,000 percutaneous injuries are reported by HCW in hospitals in the United States each year, placing them at risk of exposure to HIV, HBV, or HCV. Suture needles have been identified as the most frequent cause of injury. They are involved in as many as 44% of such injuries. This study is designed to note the NSI in major gynaecological procedures and surgical procedures using conventional method (CM) versus (VS) use of HK.Methods: Study was conducted over a period of 12 months from January 2017 to December 2017. 60 patients were included in this study and were divided into 2 groups A and B with 30 patients in each group. Group A was major surgery performed by conventional method; Group B was major surgery performed by using harmonic knife. NSI in two groups were studied and analyzed.Results: Most of the operated patients were between 41-50 years age group. 16.6% procedures were emergency and 83.3% were elective. NSI in conventional surgery was 63.3% in the surgeon and 33.3% with harmonic knife. There were 13.3% NSI in first assistant in conventional surgery and 23.3% in harmonic scalpel group. No such injuries were reported by second assistant in either group. Injuries were more in non-dominant hand in either groups in the surgeon and first assistant.Conclusions: It is concluded that NSI are common in surgeons and first assistant. Such injuries are more in non-dominant hand and in procedures where there is little exposure like vaginal hysterectomy. Use of innovative technologies like harmonic scalpel may be useful.
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Aims:This study is an effort towards comparing the efficacy of the Harmonic Focus and Electrosurgical technique with regard to nerve injury especially spinal accessory nerve and its morbidity postoperatively after neck dissection.Sample:Ninety patients of oral carcinoma who required neck dissection were included in the study.Study Design:This is a prospective study.Place and Duration of Study:Bhagwan Mahaveer Cancer Hospital & Research Centre, Jaipur, Rajasthan, India for a period of 17 months from November 2016 to March 2018.Methodology:Patients’ post-operative recovery was studied prospectively by using parameters pertaining to shoulder function and shoulder pain.Results:There were significant differences in the pain and abduction deformity at various time periods after surgery. However differences in the quality of life did not show significant difference at the end of 3 months. For up to one month pain scores were lower for Harmonic Focus and shoulder function was better through 3 months.Conclusion:Though the technique of neck dissection (harmonic v/s electro cautery) has significant impact on shoulder dysfunction, despite that in postoperative period shoulder function measured by way of shoulder pain and shoulder abduction recover almost fully during follow-up period without causing significant morbidity and with minimal effect on quality of life. There are few recommendations we would like to suggest that if incorporated, they might significantly affect the outcome and better results.
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Background:Laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) is acceptedas the gold standart treatment of gallstones. Various methodshave been developed to close the cystic duct (CD) and cysticartery (CA), but titanium clip application is currently themost frequently used technique. High-tech electrosurgicalinstruments, such as Harmonic Scalpel (HS), have been usedboth for dissection of the cystic artery and Cystic duct. Thepresent study was conducted to observe and establish efficacyof clipless cholecystectomy, by use of harmonic scalpel as analternative, for division and sealing of cystic artery and cysticduct.Methods: This study was a hospital based, retrospectivestudy, conducted in Govt. Medical College, Srinagar, usingmedical records. A total of 114 patients included in the study,having been operated by a single surgeon over time period of5 years from February 2014 to january 2019.Results: In our study of 114 patients 82 (71.92%) werefemales and 32 (28.07%) were males with average age of41.4years (16-72 yr). No patient was converted to open withaverage operating time of 24.2 minutes (18-46 minutes). Meanhospital study was 1.42 days (1-8 days) with no mortality.Postoperative complications were found in 6 (5.2%) patientswith bile leak from duct of Lushka in 1 (0.8%) patient, portsite infection in 2 (1.7%) patients and fever in 3 (2.6%)patients.Gallbladder perforation intraoperatively was seen in7 (6.2%) patients.Conclusions:Use of harmonic scalpel is an excellent optionfor the cystic duct closure with less time consumption and lesscomplications
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Introduction: Idiopathic clubfoot or congenital talipesequinovarus is characterized by an excessively turned-infoot and a high medial longitudinal arch is the commonestcongenital foot deformities having 1 in every 1000 childrenborn worldwide. Though described long back, there has beenan interest towards Ponseti method of conservative treatmentof clubfoot recently. Our study was aimed to assess theefficacy of Ponseti technique in correcting congenital talipesequinovarus deformity of foot.Material and methods: 65 patients were enrolled in the studyout of which 47 patients were available for final follow-up. Allpatients presenting with CTEV with age up to 2 years wereincluded and patients more than 2 years, operated cases andsyndromic clubfoot were excluded. We treated all patientswith Ponseti method of serial casting and tenotomy.Results: Out of the total 65 feet studied, 42 feet (64.62%)required tendo achilles tenotomy and 23 feet (35.38%) weretreated with casting alone and tenotomy was not required.In our study, there were 8 cases of relapes (12.31%).Out ofthese, 7 were idiopathic and 1 was syndromic. Out of these 8relapses, 2 required repeat tenotomy and 6 were treated withcasting as per ponseti technique. Complications due to plasterwere minimal in our study. Incidence of rocker bottom feet inour study is nil because of dedicated clubfoot manipulation inclubfoot clinic and patients were followed up regularly.Conclusion: To conclude, this study showed that clubfootdeformity can be managed successfully provided the techniqueand details of manipulation described by Ponseti are followedstrictly and patients can be followed up regularly by a team ofdedicated orthopedic surgeons.
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Background:Conventional haemorrhoidectomy is still considered as gold standard therapy for grade III &IV haemorrhoids. The conventional haemorrhoidectomy can be made easier with the help of harmonic scalpel with associated less post-operative complications.This study evaluated in a randomized prospective manner the differences in; duration of hospital stay, postoperative complications, symptomatic recurrence and cost effectiveness between conventional and harmonic scalpel assisted haemorrhoidectomy. Methods: The prospective study was carried out in 60 patients of symptomatic grade III & IV haemorrhoids, presented during August 2015 to August 2017. Each group of 30 patients treated with harmonic scalpel assisted haemorrhoidectomy and conventional haemorrhoidectomy; followed up for 6 months for complications. Results: In present study, the severity of pain was significantly more following conventional haemorrhoidectomy than harmonic scalpel assisted haemorrhoidectomy. Urinary retention was more common with conventional haemorrhoidectomy. Anal incontinence had similar incidence in both the groups of haemorrhoidectomy. Two patients had anal stenosis after conventional haemorrhoidectomy as compared to none in the harmonic scalpel group. No recurrence noted in both the groups. Cost effectiveness of the procedure is measured in form of hospital stay and return to daily activity and harmonic scalpel group have advantage over the conventional haemorrhoidectomy group in terms of less hospital stay and early return to daily activity. Conclusion: Harmonic scalpel assisted haemorrhoidectomy appears to be a better procedure compared with conventional haemorrhoidectomy in terms of less post-operative complications and decreased hospital stay in symptomatic patients with grade III & IV haemorrhoids.
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Objective Energy based surgical devices such as high frequency electrotome,Harmonic scalpel and LigaSure are widely used in thyroid operations.This study is to demonstrate the difference of tissue thermal damage among different surgical instruments.Methods 12 beagle dogs were randomly divided into 3 groups,electrotome 15 W groups (group A),three-speed Harmonic scalpel (group B) and LigaSure middle gear group (group C).Patients of each group received energy instruments operating on their thyroid tissue which mimics traditional thyroidectomy.The temperatures of gland tissue during procedures were monitored by infrared thermal imager,and the operated thyroid tissues were histologically analyzed.Results The highest temperature was (83.9±8.2)℃ in the electrotome group,(70.7±7.5)℃ in three-speed Harmonic scalpel group,and (56.6±5.7)℃ in LigaSure group.The highest temperature among the three groups was statistically significant.The electrotome (15 W) caused more serious thermal damage to thyroid tissues than that caused by either the Harmonic scalpel or LigaSure (thermal damaged depth:(0.96±0.07) mm vs (0.74±0.07) mm,P＜0.01;(0.96±0.07) mm vs (0.72± 0.11) mm,P＜0.01).Nevertheless,the thermal damage had no significant differences between the Harmonic scalpel and LigaSure group (P=0.845).The thermal damage caused by the 15 W electrotome was significantly larger than that in the other two groups,and the difference had statistical significance (P＜0.01).Conclusion Compared to the high frequency electrotome,Harmonic scalpel and LigaSure lead less tissue thermal damage during thyroid surgeries,owing to less heat production.In that way,Harmonic scalpel and LigaSure are superior to electrotome in terms of safety.
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@#Objective To evaluate the clinical outcomes of harmonic scalpel in subxiphoid and subcostal arch approach for resection of anterior mediastinal lesion. Methods We retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of 217 patients with anterior mediastinal lesion at the Department of Thoracic Surgery of Tangdu Hospital of the Fourth Military Medical University from June 2015 to June 2017, among whom 162 underwent thoracoscopic surgery via subxiphoid and subcostal arch approach with harmonic scalpel (a harmonic scalpel group, 95 males and 67 females at an average age of 46.2±18.7 years ranging from 22 to 72 years) and 55 with Ligasure (a Ligasure group, 29 males and 26 females at an average age of 47.7±12.9 years ranging from 31 to 68 years). Operation time, intraoperative blood loss, intraoperative conversion rate, postoperative hospital stay, patients satisfaction score, patients pain score and postoperative complications were compared between both groups. Results All operations were accomplished successfully, and there was no death or conversion to thoracotomy. There was a statistical difference in operation time (58.6±34.8 min vs. 72.8±32.6 min, P=0.01), and intraoperative blood loss (36.2±18.7 ml vs. 41.9±12.9 ml, P=0.04). There was no statistical difference between the two groups in length of hospital stay (4.2±2.6 d vs. 4.5±1.9 d, P=0.36), pain score at postoperative day 1, 3 and 30 (8.3±0.9 vs. 8.5±0.6, P=0.13; 6.4±1.5 vs. 6.9±1.1, P=0.19; 1.3±0.7 vs. 1.4±0.9, P=0.40), patients’ satisfaction score (8.6±1.2 vs. 8.4±1.7, P=0.34), or incidence of postoperative complications (5.6% vs. 9.1%, P=0.35). Conclusion Har-monic scalpel plays an important role in resection of anterior mediastinal lesion via subxiphoid and subcostal arch approach. All tissues are separated and blood vessels are dissected only by the harmonic scalpel, so it is very important for us to handle the harmonic scalpel skillfully.
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@#Objective To evaluate the clinical effects of harmonic scalpel application in thoracoscopic surgery for lung cancer, which may guide its reasonable application. Methods We retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of 145 lung cancer patients receiving thoracoscopic surgery from January to March 2017 in our hospital. There were 57 patients with thoracoscopic pulmonary wedge resection, and harmonic scalpel was used in 34 patients (8 males, 26 females at age of 59.68±10.91 years), and was not used in 23 patients (13 males and 10 females at age of 59.13±11.21 years). There were 88 patients receiving thoracoscopic pulmonary lobectomy, among whom harmonic scalpel was used in 80 patients (36 males and 44 females at age of 59.68±10.91 years), and was not used in 8 patients (5 males, 3 females at age of 61.63±5.60 years). We recorded the perioperative outcomes of all patients. Results In the 34 patients undergoing thoracoscopic pulmonary wedge resection by harmonic scalpe, the operation time was 90.09±43.52 min, the blood loss was 21.32±12.75 ml, the number of lymph nodes resected was 5.12±4.26, duration of drainage was 3.15±1.16 d, volume of drainage was 535.00±291.69 ml, the length of postoperative hospital stay was 4.56±1.40 d, and no postoperative complication was observed. In the 80 patients receiving thoracoscopic pulmonary lobectomy by harmonic scalpel, operation time was 131.88±41.82 min, blood loss was 42.79±31.62 ml, the number of lymph nodes resected was 13.54±8.75, duration of thoracic drainage was 4.47±2.30 d, drainage volume was 872.09±585.24 ml, the length of postoperative hospital stay was 5.81±2.26 d, and 20 patients had postoperative complications. No complication occurred in the 8 patients without harmonic scalpel. Conclusion Harmonic scalpel showed satisfactory effectiveness and safety in lung cancer thoracoscopic surgery.
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@#Objective To assess the outcome of harmonic scalpel (HS) in esophageal cancer surgery and to provide evidence for the role of HS in the enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) and short-term prognosis after esophageal cancer surgery. Methods We collected the clinical data of 81 esophageal cancer patients receiving surgery by HS between January 1 and December 31, 2016 and successfully followed up in our department. There were 67 males and 14 females with an average age of 64.07±7.52 years. Sweet approach was adopted in 16 patients, Ivor-Lewis approach in 23 and McKeown approach in 40. Intrathoracic anastomosis was completed in 41 patients and cervical anastomosis in 40. The length of total hospital stay and postoperative hospital stay, operation time, intraoperative blood loss, duration and volume of thoracic drainage and perioperative complications were recorded and compared in patients with different surgical approaches and anastomosis sites. Results For these 81 patients, the operation time was 276.7±70.4 min, and the intraoperative blood loss was 115.9±69.7 ml. The postoperative duration of thoracic drainage, postoperative complication rate and the drainage volume were 12.3±5.3 d, 35.80% and 1 411.9±1 199.5 ml, respectively. During the follow-up, 15 patients died and the cumulative survival rate was 81.48%. There was no obvious HS-related complication. The operation time of Sweet approach was shorter than that of Ivor-Lewis or McKeown approach (P=0.012) and the dissected lymph nodes were less in Sweet approach (P=0.035). There was no significant difference in perioperative indexes and postoperative short-term prognosis between intrathoracic anastomosis and cervical anastomosis. Conclusion HS is widely used in the surgery for esophageal cancer with safety and effectiveness, which is worthy of clinical application.
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El trabajo repasa la evolución histórica en el entendimiento y en el manejo de la cirugía tiroidea. Describe los orígenes de esta cirugía y su ejecución, mucho antes de que se entendiera el funcionamiento de la glándula. Enumera los personajes más trascendentes de esta historia y cómo otras técnicas aplicadas en la cirugía oncológica general se adaptaron a la cirugía de cabeza y cuello. Se mencionan las innovaciones tecnológicas en cirugía tiroidea.
This work reviews the historical evolution of thyroid surgery, its understanding and management. It mentions the origins of this surgical procedure and its execution well before the understanding of the glandular function. The leading persons in this historical field are enumerated; and a review is made of how other techniques applied in surgical oncology were adapted in head and neck surgery. Technological innovations in thyroid surgery are enumerated.
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Humans , Diagnostic Techniques and Procedures/trends , Review Literature as Topic , Thyroid Neoplasms/history , Thyroid Neoplasms/surgery , Endocrinology/history , History of Medicine , Technological DevelopmentABSTRACT
Objective@#To investigate the diagnosis and treatment of substernal goiter.@*Methods@#A total of 58 cases with substernal goiters undergoing surgery between January 2005 and December 2015 were analysed retrospectively. There were 10 males and 48 females and their age ranged from 38 to 82 years with a median age of 58 years. According to enhanced CT and clinical signs of substernal goiters, there were 40 cases for typeⅠ, 17 cases for type Ⅱ, and 1 case for type Ⅲ.@*Results@#Patients with typeⅠand Ⅱ substernal goiters (8 cases of papillary carcinoma) underwent low neck and collar-type incision, and patients with type Ⅲ substernal goiters received carotid chest surgery. The use of harmonic scalpel in sternal goiter surgery provided with clearer surgical field, less bleeding. All the operations were successful, and recurrent laryngeal nerve was visually identified in all patients. Postoperative complications included trachyphonia (2 cases), without difficult breathing and tracheal stenosis.@*Conclusions@#Enhanced CT is the best means of preoperatively assessment of substernal goiter. It is feasible to treat patients with typeⅠand Ⅱ substernal goiters by lower neck and collar-type incision. Use of harmonic scalpel in substernal goiter surgery can reduce operation time and bleeding.
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Objective To evaluate the clinical efficacy of ultrasonic-harmonic scalpel in open thyroid surgery.Methods Totally 70 patients with thyroid surgery from January 2012 to January 2014 in some hospital were selected as the study objects, who were divided into a control group and an observation group equally. The patients in the control group went through traditional surgery, and the ones in the observation group underwent open thyroid surgery. Then the operative time, blood loss, postoperative hospital stay before and after surgery and body stress-related serum markers of two groups were analyzed and compared.Results The observation group had the operative time, blood loss and postoperative hospital stay significantly better than those of the control group, and the body stress-related serum markers 5 days after operation significantly lower than that of the control group, with P<0.05.Conclusion The short-term clinical effect of ultrasonic-harmonic scalpel in open thyroid surgery is significantly better than that of traditional surgery, which has high safety and lower degree of adverse physical stress.
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Objective To evaluate effectiveness of application with FOCUS harmonic scalpel in papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) surgery.Methods 110 patients with PTC between June 2013 and December 2013 were divided into two groups randomly as harmonic scalpel group (group H) and conventional group (group C).Incision length,operative time,estimated blood loss,drainage volume within 24 h,in the second 24 h and in total after operation,the number of lymph node retrieval,post-operative complication and hospital stay were compared between two groups.Rusults There is significant different in factors of incision length [(5.5±0.4) cm in group H and (6.6±0.5) cm in group C (P ＜ 0.05)],operative time [(54.4±8.7) min in group H and (73.3±13.9) min in group C (P ＜ 0.05)],estimated blood loss [(14.2±6.0) ml in group H and (29.8±5.0) ml in group C (P ＜ 0.05)].There were no differences in drainage volume,the number of lymph node retrieval,post-operative complication and hospital stay between two group (P ＞ 0.05).Conclusion FOCUS harmonic scalpel could reduce incision length,operative time,estimated blood loss in PTC surgery.
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Objective To introduce the clinical experience and investigate the significance and safety of harmonic scalpel combined with meticulous capsular dissection technique in thyroidectomy.Methods A retrospective analysis was performed on 275 patients who underwent thyroidectomy among which 135 patients were treated by capsular dissection technique and harmonic scalpel (harmonic scalpel group),the other 140 patients were treated by electric knife and traditional ligation (traditional group).The thyroidectomy operative time,intraoperative bleeding volume,postoperative drainage volume and surgical complications were compared between two groups.Results In harmonic scalpel group,the thyroidectomy operative time of total thyroidectomy and subtotal thyroidectomy was significantly shorter than that in traditional group [(50.0±6.9) min vs.(82.0± 14.4) min,(39.9±6.6) min vs.(73.1 ± 14.5) min](P＜0.01).The intraoperative bleeding volume of total thyroidectomy and subtotal thyroidectomy in harmonic scalpel group was significantly lower than that in traditional group [(18.7 ± 10.9) ml vs.(41.9 ± 15.6) ml,(17.7 ± 9.3) ml vs.(42.2 ± 14.6) ml] (P ＜ 0.01).The postoperative drainage volume of total thyroidectomy and subtotal thyroidectomy in harmonic scalpel group was significantly lower than that in traditional group [(40.7 ± 11.7) ml vs.(53.9 ± 17.5) ml,(42.7 ± 14.5) ml vs.(61.8 ±22.9) ml](P＜0.01).The rate of temporary hypoparathyroidism and temporary recurrent laryngeal nerve palsy had no significant difference between two groups (P ＞ 0.05).Conclusions Application of harmonic scalpel combined with meticulous capsular dissection technique in thyroidectomy can significantly reduce thyroidectomy operative time,intraoperative bleeding volume,postoperative drainage volume and surgical complications.Harmonic scalpel combined with meticulous capsular dissection technique in thyroidectomy should be widely used.
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ObjectiveTo explore the effect of ultrasonic harmonic scalpel on stress after radical resction of esophageal carcinoma.MethodsAll 115 patients of esophageal carcinoma undergone radical esophagectomy were analyzed retrospectively.60 patients were performed with ultrasonic harmonic scalpel,the other 55 patients were performed with electrotome.The drainage volume of 72h after operation,postoperative complications and hospital days were analyzed.White blood cell count,Neu,CRP and blood glucose level were tested 2 days after operation.ResultsThere was significant difference in the drainage volume of 72h after operation (P ＜ 0.05 ),but the postoperative complications and hospital days had no obvious difference.White blood cell count,Neu,CRP and blood glucose were obviously increased after operation( all P ＜ 0.05 ) ;the barmonic scalpel group was dramatically decreased as compared with the electrotome group except blood glucose ( all P ＜ 0.05 ).ConclusionRadical resection of esophageal carcinoma using ultrasonic harmonic scalpel appears to decrease the drainage volume of 72h after operation and less the stress.
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ObjectiveTo explore the practicability and security of the ultracision harmonic scalpel in radical gastrectomy for patients with proximal gastric cancer.Methods115 patients of stage Ⅰ ～ Ⅲ proximal gastric cancer undergone radical gastrectomy were analyzed retrospectively.65 patients were performed with ultracision harmonic scalpel,the other 50 patients were performed with conventional operation.The operative time,volume of intraoperative hemorrhage,length of incision,and postoperative complications were analyzed.ResultsThere were significant difference in operative time ( 126.9 ± 20.7 ) min and ( 150.6 ± 31.7 ) min ( P ＜ 0.05 ),volume of intraoperative hemorrhage (105.7 ±40.3)ml and (171.7 ±63.2)ml(P＜0.01) and length of incision(17.2 ±2.1)cm and (20.3 ±2.3)cm (P ＜ 0.05 ).There was no significant difference in the postoperative complications between ultracisiou harmonic scalpel group and conventional group.All patients recovered without severe complications.ConclusionRadical resection of proximal gastric cancer using ultracision harmonic scalpel could shorten operative time,decrease intraoperative hemorrhage,shorten incision length,and the technique is convenient and safe.
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Various energy devices had been used in thyroid surgery. Aim of study is to develop canine model for recurrent laryngeal nerve injury by harmonic scalpel and to evaluate feasibility of using this model for evaluating the safety use of harmonic scalpel during thyroid surgery. Nine dogs were divided into 3 groups according to distance between harmonic scalpel application and recurrent laryngeal nerve; group 1 (1 mm), 2 (2 mm), and 3 (3 mm). Vocal cord function was assessed pre- and postoperatively using video laryngoscopy. Harmonic scalpel was applied adjacent to left recurrent laryngeal nerve and, two weeks later, right recurrent laryngeal nerve at assigned distances. Recurrent laryngeal nerves were evaluated for subacute and acute morphologic changes. Laryngoscopy demonstrated 3 abnormal vocal cords in group 1, 1 in group 2, and no in group 3 (P=0.020). Subacute histologic changes were observed in nerves with abnormal function. Acute histologic changes were observed 5/8 (62.5%) in group 1, 1/7 (14.3%) in group 2, and not in group 3. We developed canine model for recurrent laryngeal injury. The functional outcomes matched with the histologic changes. These warrant further study to determine the safety margin for energy device in vicinity of recurrent laryngeal nerve.
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Animals , Dogs , Laryngoscopy , Recurrent Laryngeal Nerve , Recurrent Laryngeal Nerve Injuries , Thyroid Gland , Vocal CordsABSTRACT
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The harmonic scalpel using the ultrasonic energy is able to grasp and divide tissue while sealing small vessels in narrow operating fields. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the usefulness of the harmonic scalpel in thyroid surgery. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study was performed for 247 patients who underwent thyroidectomy. According to the use of harmonic Scalpel, the patients could be divided into two groups: the conventional technique (CT) group of knot tying and the harmonic scalpel (HS) group. RESULTS: For hemithyroidectomy, operation time and hospital stay were shorter in the HS group compared with the CT group (p<0.05). For total thyroidectomy with central neck dissection (CND), operation time, total drainage volume, drain removal date, and hospital stay were significantly reduced in the HS group (p<0.05). Among the patients who underwent total thyroidectomy with CND with the HS, one patient (2.9%) showed transient recurrent laryngeal nerve palsy. Transient hypoparathyroidism showed significantly lower incidence in the HS group (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: HS might be cost-effective by reducing operation time and hospital stay without increased postoperative complications.