The purpose of this in vivo study was to investigate the antimicrobial effectiveness of 6% sodium hypochlorite, when used with the conventional irrigation technique using a 30 gauge side-vented needle, the EndoVac TM System, and the ProUltra PiezoFlow TM Ultrasonic Irrigation Needle. It was hypothesized that both the EndoVac TM system and the PiezoFlow TM Ultrasonic Irrigation Needle would remo...

We developed a novel coaxial system using a fine guide needle wire (GNW) to safely and easily place the radiofrequency needle under CT-guidance. The GNW consists of a fine needle (diameter, 21-gauge; length, 150 mm) and a wire (0.018 inch, 250 mm). An exclusive radiofrequency cannula (14-gauge; 160 mm) was also used. This system was used for the treatment of six hepatocellular carcinomas in six...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the in vivo efficiency of the biopsy tract radiofrequency ablation for hemostasis after core biopsy of the liver in a porcine liver model, including situations with bleeding tendency and a larger (16-gauge) core needle. MATERIALS AND METHODS A preliminary study was performed using one pig to determine optimal ablation parameters. For the main experiment, four pigs were a...

OBJECTIVES Local anesthetic infiltration is also a process of a painful process itself. INJEX™ technology, known as "Needle-free" drug delivery system, was designed for reducing the pain associated with cutaneous procedures. We conducted a prospective, randomized trial to evaluate the application of lidocaine with INJEX™ system and 27-gauge needle. METHODS A total of 60 consecutive patients w...

IT occurred to me some time ago that, if one used a straight needle so that in placing sutures there was no bending force applied by the needle-holder, this needle could be greatly reduced in diameter. This smaller cross-section would in turn allow it to penetrate tough tissue such as the cornea much more easily. Further, I felt that with a straight needle one could place sutures much more accu...

and nonpalpable breast lesions is a safe and effective alternative to fine-needle aspiration and needle-localized breast excisional biopsies (1, 2). It can reduce the need for a two-stage procedure and can improve the surgical and oncological outcomes (3). However, one disadvantage of this technique for sampling breast cancer is the possible seeding of malignant tumor cells along the needle tra...

We present two patients both of whom had severe morbid obesity and needed placement of a percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) for albumin and visceral protein replenishment. The first patient was a 53-year-old woman (body mass index [BMI], 85.8; weight, 191kg) who presented with respiratory distress and dysphagia; the second was a 26-year-old woman (BMI, 88.6; weight, 259kg) who presented ...

BACKGROUND AND STUDY AIMS The optimal core biopsy needle for endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) is unknown. The principle aim of this study is to compare outcomes of EUS-fine-needle biopsy (EUS-FNB) with a new 19-gauge EUS histology needle (ProCore, Cook Medical Inc., Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States) to a conventional 19-gauge Tru-Cut biopsy (EUS-TCB) needle (19G, Quick-Core, Cook Medical...