LigasureTM Seals Small Lymphatic Vessels as Comparably Well as Hem-o-lok® Clips

• Main Authors: Dwayne Chang, Isaac Thyer
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Galenos Yayinevi 2020-12-01
• Series: Journal of Urological Surgery
• Subjects: diathermy; lymphedema; lymph nodes; surgical instruments
• Online Access: http://jurolsurgery.org/archives/archive-detail/article-preview/ligasuresuptm-sup-seals-small-lymphatic-vessels-as/42819

Objective:The purpose of this study is to compare small lymphatic vessel sealing using LigasureTM (LS) and Hem-o-lok® (HML) clips in an ex vivo canine spermatic cord model.Materials and Methods:Canine testes with spermatic cord attached were harvested. By random distribution, the spermatic cord of each testis was either (i) sealed with LS, (ii) clipped with one HML clip, or (iii) had no intervention. The testis was then injected with a Patent Blue V dye solution. At 5 minutes and 12 hours after injection, the distal spermatic cord was inspected for macroscopically visible dye. One random spermatic cord from each of the LS and HML cohorts free of macroscopic evidence of dye was examined using the frozen section histology of the cross sections proximal and distal to the intervention site to detect the microscopic presence of dye.Results:During the study period, 18 canine testes were harvested. After randomization, five, six, and seven testes were included in the control, HML, and LS groups, respectively. In the control group, all 5 testes had leaked blue dye from the cut end of the spermatic cord at 5 minutes. Further, in the HML group, dye was macroscopically visible distal to the intervention site (intervention failure) in 2 out of 6 cases at 5 minutes. In the LS group, 2 out of 7 testes had leaked blue dye at 5 minutes. All testes that did not fail at 5 minutes also did not fail at 12 hours in both LS and HML groups.Conclusion:LS is an effective alternative option to HML clips to seal small lymphatic vessels.