Effects of electrocautery, CO2 laser, and contact Nd:YAG laser scalpel on the healing of intestinal incision

✍ Scribed by Pauli Puolakkainen; Kim Brackett; M. Y. Sankar; Steven Joffe; Tom Schröder

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1987
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 577 KB
• Volume: 7
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0196-8092
• DOI: 10.1002/lsm.1900070613

✦ Synopsis

Leakage after intestinal resection is a serious complication with a high mortality rate. A recent study claims that cutting the intestine with the COz laser improves the healing of intestinal anastomoses (Ferulano et al: Eur Surg Res 16:127-130, 1984). The present study was undertaken to analyze the effects of electrocautery, COz laser, and contact Nd:YAG laser on the healing of intestinal incisions.

Fifteen piglets were used and the cutting and reanastomosing were performed by using all cutting methods in each animal in randomized order. Resection sites were 50 cm, 100 cm, and 150 cm distal to the ligament of Treitz. On the seventh day the bursting pressures were measured for each anastomosis. They were 172 & 17 mmHg for normal bowel segment and 133 12, 135 + 40, and 139 + 17 mmHg for electrocautery, C02 laser, and Nd:YAG laser, respectively. There were no mortality, no anastomotic leaks, and no statistically significant differences in the bursting pressures, in histology, or in the healing of anastomotic sites, indicating that electrocautery, COz laser, and contact Nd:YAG laser scalpel can safely be used in the surgery of small intestine.