Comparative study of electrothermal bipolar vessel sealer and ultrasonic coagulating shears in laparoscopic colectomy.

BACKGROUND

As an alternative to suture ligatures of the vessels, an electrothermal bipolar vessel sealer (EBVS) was recently developed. Meanwhile, ultrasonic coagulating shears (UCS) have been widely used clinically to provide hemostatic cutting in laparoscopic procedures. We conducted a comparative study to investigate the relative advantages of these two instruments.

METHODS

The study included 30 patients with colon cancer who underwent laparoscopic colectomy using either the EBVS or the UCS. We performed a comparative analysis of the instruments by viewing videotapes showing their application in laparoscopic transverse colectomy and sigmoidectomy.

RESULTS

Average patient age was 71.6 +/- 1.4 years. Average hospital stay was 14.2 +/- 1.0 days. There were no statistical differences between the groups in age and hospital stay. The incidence of rebleeding was significantly lower in the EBVS group than in the UCS group for both surgical procedures (0.3 vs 1.2 in transverse colectomy, 0.3 vs 2.0 in sigmoidectomy, respectively). In addition, the required time for mesocolon dissection was also significantly shorter when the EBVS was used in both laparoscopic transverse colectomy and sigmoidectomy (7.9 vs 18.4, 15.0 vs 27.6, respectively).

CONCLUSION

The use of the EBVS will enable surgeons to reduce the total operating time for laparoscopic colectomy.