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Plasmablade versus Electrocautery in Reduction Mammoplasty
Joseph Meyerson, Lisa Pursell, Anne Taylor
Wexner Medical Center at Ohio State University
2014-03-11
Presenter: Joseph Meyerson
Affidavit:
This research has been formulated and analyzed by the resident. Surgeries performed by the attending author. Student helped with data collection
Director Name: Gregory Pearson
Author Category: Resident Plastic Surgery
Presentation Category: Clinical
Abstract Category: Aesthetics
Background
Reduction mammoplasty is a common plastic surgery procedure with a history of multiple techniques described and instrumentation utilized. The PEAK Plasmablade (Medtronic Inc., Minneapolis, Minnesota) is a new electrocautery technology with studies demonstrating a reduction in thermal injury, inflammation, and scar formation of tissue. We investigated the affects of the Plasmablade in breast reduction surgery operating times, blood loss, postoperative days to surgical drain removal and complications.
Methods
A Retrospective review was performed on 62 consecutive patients undergoing bilateral breast reduction. Cohort A consisted of 31 patients having undergone right-sided dissection with Plasmablade (PB) and left-side dissection with traditional electrocautery (or Bovie (B)). Cohort B consisted of 31 consecutive patients with bilateral reductions all dissection performed with a Bovie.
Results
Cohort A demonstrated statistically shortened operative length (A 92 mins, B 110 mins, p = 0.001) as well as postoperative days to drain removal (A 2.1 days, B 2.7 days, p = 0.02) as compared to cohort B. No statistical differences were seen for estimated blood loss (A 161 ml, B 150 ml, p = 0.60). Six total complications occurred in the Plasmablade cohort, 3 were right-sided and 3 were left-sided including skin necrosis, delayed healing, and hematoma.
Discussion
The Plasmablade, in our study, demonstrated a shortened length of operative time and time to surgical drain removal. Although we did not find blood loss and postoperative complications to be significant further prospective trials are need to clarify the benefits of the Plasmablade technology in breast reduction surgery.
