Gas jet transection of liver parenchima: experimental research.

BACKGROUND There exists a great variety of liver parenchyma transection techniques. The objective of this research is to develop a new method of liver transection, and to compare it with the traditional ones. METHODS An original gas jet transection method of biological tissues and the apparatus "Pneumojet" to make the method practicable were developed in our institute. Comparison between the efficiency of gas jet, water jet, ultrasonic methods of liver transection and clamp crushing technique were carried out on 24 mini-pigs. Pringle maneuver was not included. RESULTS The mean blood loss was the smallest in the group of animals that had a gas jet transection (3.5±0.15 mL/cm(2)) but the highest in the clamp crushing technique group (5.5±0.46 mL/cm(2)). Indicators significantly showed the statistical difference (P<0.001). The transection speed was the highest in the Clamp crushing technique group (2.9±0.25 cm(2)/min) and was credibly higher than in the gas jet (2.4±0.16 cm(2)/min), ultrasonic (2.4±0.13 cm(2)/min) and water jet (2.5±0.14 cm(2)/min) transection groups. Compared with the water jet and ultrasonic methods of liver transection, the original method does not have statistically significant distinctions on the basic indexes of work. CONCLUSIONS The research conducted proves high efficiency and safety of the gas jet transection method. The gas jet transection, therefore, could be recommended for further improvement and clinical application.