conclusions none of the factors were significantly related to developing burns. the differences between the two groups highlights the importance of systems modifications to lessen the incidence of burns. patients and methods this was a case-control study in which two groups of 150 patients undergoing cardiac surgery in imam khomeini hospital were recruited. several factors like gender, age, ope...

Due to recent improvements of safety conditions for therapeutic devices, electrocautery is being considered with renewed interest in the field of therapeutic bronchoscopy. The efficiency of this technique for destructing intraluminal tumours is well documented and makes it an attractive alternative to Yttrium aluminium garnet (YAG) laser photo-coagulation. Little is known, however, about the mo...

BACKGROUND Laser has been the main ablative modality in the airways, but a growing experience with endobronchial electrocautery suggests a comparable efficacy and safety profile. OBJECTIVES To evaluate the efficacy and safety of electrocautery as the primary heat therapy for malignant and benign airway obstruction. METHODS A retrospective review of all patients undergoing endobronchial elec...

OBJECTIVE To conduct an adequately powered, prospective, randomised, controlled trial comparing adult dissection tonsillectomy using either ultrasonic scalpel, bipolar electrocautery, bipolar radiofrequency or 'cold steel' dissection. METHODS Three hundred patients were randomised into four tonsillectomy technique groups. The operative time, intra-operative bleeding, post-operative pain, tons...

BACKGROUND The application of radiofrequency electrocautery to a standard, open-ended transseptal needle has been used to facilitate transseptal puncture (TSP). The purpose of this study was to determine the incidence of cardiac tissue coring when this technique is used. METHODS AND RESULTS A model using excised swine hearts submerged in a saline-filled basin was developed to simulate TSP wit...

BACKGROUND Despite the common use of conventional electrocautery in modified radical mastectomy for breast cancer, the harmonic scalpel is recently emerging as a dominant surgical instrument for dissection and haemostasis, which is thought to reduce the morbidity, such as seroma and blood loss. But the results of published trials are inconsistent. So we made the meta-analysis to assess the intr...

We report a case of electrocautery-induced pacemaker failure that resulted in asystole in a 15-year-old girl scheduled for cardiac surgery. Her pacemaker was converted to the asynchronous mode the night before surgery. Electromagnetic interference from the unipolar electrocautery caused a reduction in the battery voltage, which allowed the digital circuitry, but not the voltage control oscillat...

This brief report highlights three cases of iatrogenic electrocautery burns with review of the relevant published literature. The aim is to prompt awareness among surgeons and theatre staff regarding this avoidable hazard associated with the equipment frequently used for the purpose of electrocautery. This may serve as a reminder to professionals to be cautious about the pitfalls that lead to s...

PURPOSE The purpose of this study is to retrospectively examine the postoperative pulmonary fistula as a complication after the use of either electrocautery or a harmonic scalpel without stapling devices. PATIENTS AND METHODS The subjects of this study consisted of 28 patients who received a segmentectomy for a pulmonary malignant tumor, 25 cases of lung cancer and 3 of metastatic lung tumor....

Abstract The debate about which surgical technique for tonsillectomy could be superior over another is continuous. Tonsillectomy techniques are classified into cold and hot procedures. In techniques, no heat used; they include dissection, guillotine, microdebrider, harmonic scalpel, cryosurgery. Hot electrocautery, coblation, radio frequency, laser. Egypt, the used methods dissection with elect...