Ultrasonically Activated Shears Reduce Blood Loss without Increasing Inflammatory Reactions in Open Distal Gastrectomy for Cancer: A Randomized Controlled Study.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Previous studies regarding ultrasonically activated shears (UAS) were performed without controlled surgical procedures or consideration of potential thermal injury due to high temperature of active blade of UAS. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of UAS through a comparison with conventional monopolar electrocautery (CME) in open distal gastrectomy for gastric cancer. METHODS: From October 2011 to November 2012, 56 gastric cancer patients eligible for open distal gastrectomy were randomized into UAS or CME groups. Primary endpoints were estimated blood loss (EBL) during surgery and amount of drainage through the fifth postoperative day. Secondary endpoints were operation time, length of hospital stay, postoperative morbidity, changes in cytokine levels in serum, peritoneal irrigation saline, and peritoneal drainage, and inflammatory markers of serum. (Registration-number of ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01971775). RESULTS: EBL was lower in the UAS group than that in the CME group (339.8 ± 201.2 vs. 428.6 ± 165.8 mL, p = 0.021). However, the amount of postoperative drainage was not significantly different between the two groups. Although the complication rate was not different between the two groups, there were three cases of intra-abdominal bleeding requiring transfusion only in the CME group. Inflammatory markers from the cytokine assays and serum laboratory tests showed no significant differences between the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: UAS reduced EBL without increasing inflammatory reactions.