Feasibility of using a vessel sealing system in a human pulmonary lobectomy: a retrospective comparison of this procedure with or without a vessel sealing system.

OBJECTIVE Despite recent advances in video-assisted thoracoscopic lobectomy, some technical limitations still remain. Our current study purpose was to determine if the vessel sealing system (VSS) has utility in this procedure. METHOD 112 patients who underwent an anatomic pulmonary lobectomy at our institute were evaluated retrospectively. The burst pressure of pulmonary vessels, which was divided into VSS (VSS group; n = 44) or manual ligature (ligature group; n = 53) groups, was measured experimentally in transected lungs. Perioperative clinical data was also retrospectively evaluated in patients treated with (VSS group) or without using VSS (n-VSS group). RESULTS Burst pressures achieved adequate strength in both the VSS (600.0 ± 436.8 mmHg) and ligature (1057.4 ± 462.3 mmHg) groups. Compared with the n-VSS group, the VSS group patients showed lower intraoperative blood loss (115.4 ± 181.1 vs. 183.3 ± 159.1 ml), lower chest fluids by 3rd post-operative day (POD) (533.8 ± 264.8 vs. 705.3 ± 339.3 ml) and a shorter period of chest tube duration (4.1 ± 1.2 vs. 5.4 ± 2.4 days). No serious complications or perioperative (30 days) deaths occurred in either group. CONCLUSION The VSS device has the advantage in pulmonary lobectomy procedures, especially those involving video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS).