Is electrocautery shovel a safe and feasible tool in laparoscopic operation?

Since the successful introduction of laparoscopic colectomy by Jacobs et al, laparoscopic surgery, especially laparoscopic rectal surgery has been developed considerably. Compared with open operation, the laparoscopic operation has many advantages such as less pain, little blood loss, small incision, good exposure of the pelvic cavity, an earlier return to daily activities and so on while preserving the oncologic radicality of the procedure, but the laparoscopic operation is more difficult than the open operation. Ultrasonically activated scalpel (US) is able to grasp and divide tissues while sealing small vessels, whereas the expensive medical instrument and high costs of the disposable materials can greatly increase the cost of laparoscopic rectal cancer operation.

ES is not as good as (US) on hemostasia, but it's cheap and durable.The research team led by Dr. Bao-Jun Zhou from the Second Hospital of Hebei Medical University, China, found that ES could be safely used in the laparoscopic rectal cancer operation and achieve the same clinic effects as the Ultrasonically activated scalpel. And their reports will be published on 7 July 2008, in the World Journal of Gastroenterology.

In the article, they also summarized the technique and skill of using ES. The research result show that ES is safe and feasible tool as same as US used in laparoscopic for rectal cancer on the basis of the skilled laparoscopic technique and the complete understand of laparoscopic pelvic anatomy. Application of ES can not only reduce the operation costs but also be favor of the popularization of laparoscopic operation for rectal cancer.

Reference: Zhou BJ, Song WQ, Yan QH, Cai JH, Wang FA, Liu J, Zhang GJ, Duan GQ, Zhang ZX. Ultrasonically activated scalpel versus monopolar electrocautery shovel in laparoscopic total mesorectal excision for rectal cancer. World J Gastroenterol 2008; 14(25): 4065-4069
http://www.wjgnet.com/1007-9327/14/4065.asp

Correspondence to: Dr. Bao-Jun Zhou, Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, the Second Hospital of Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang 050000, Hebei Province, China. zhoubaojun67@hotmail.com
Telephone: +86-311-66002983 Fax: +86-31187061012

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