9/18/08
According to a new study presented today at the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery (AAFPRS) Annual Fall Meeting, in Chicago, cuts made on freshly excised human abdominal tissue using Peak Surgical’s PlasmaBlade Needle, showed reduced thermal tissue injury compared to traditional electrosurgery and significantly less bleeding than that produced by a standard scalpel.
“Traditional electrosurgical instruments produce a zone of thermal injury to surrounding tissue, which can limit their use in facial surgery,” says lead study investigator Gregory S. Keller, MD, co-director of the Facial Plastic Surgery Fellowship at the University of California, Los Angeles Medical School and clinical associate professor of surgery at UCLA. “The findings of this comparative preclinical study demonstrate that the PlasmaBlade Needle causes less thermal tissue damage than traditional electrosurgery because it cuts and coagulates at a much lower temperature and delivers less heat. Reducing collateral tissue damage is important for improved surgical incision wound healing. The PlasmaBlade Needle may be an important surgical tool for facial tissue dissection in plastic and reconstructive surgery.”
The PlasmaBlade Needle, which has been cleared for use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, is a disposable surgical cutting and coagulation tool designed for use by surgeons doing ultra-precise surgical procedures. It is a component of the PEAK Surgery System together with the PULSAR™ Generator, which supplies the PlasmaBlade Needle with pulsed plasma radiofrequency energy. The PlasmaBlade Needle is one of a family of disposable cutting tools that offer the exacting control of a scalpel and the bleeding control of traditional electrosurgery without the extensive collateral damage. The PlasmaBlade 4.0, which was the first PEAK Surgical device to be FDA cleared, is designed to cut through all types of soft tissue, including skin, fat, and muscle. The PlasmaBlade Needle is designed for use when a fine needlepoint tip is desired.
Histological evaluation of the human skin, porcine skin, and cartilage samples showed that incisions made with the PlasmaBlade Needle produced nearly 50% less collateral tissue damage than the traditional electrosurgery needlepoint tip. Evaluation of the porcine skin cuts showed that the amount of bleeding following incision by the PlasmaBlade Needle was significantly reduced compared with that produced by the standard scalpel (p=0.001) and similar to that produced with the traditional electrosurgery device.
