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. 2020 Feb 12:13:41-47.
doi: 10.2147/MDER.S240343. eCollection 2020.

The Impact of Endoscopic Stapler Selection on Bleeding at the Vascular Stump in Pulmonary Artery Transection

Yoshio Tsunezuka  1 , Nobuhiro Tanaka  1 , Hideki Fujimori  1
Affiliations

The Impact of Endoscopic Stapler Selection on Bleeding at the Vascular Stump in Pulmonary Artery Transection

Yoshio Tsunezuka et al. Med Devices (Auckl). .

Abstract

Objective: To assess bleeding following transection of the pulmonary artery with powered and manual endoscopic staplers.

Methods: Cases of video-assisted and open-chest thoracic surgical procedures for non-small cell lung cancer at Ishikawa Prefectural Central Hospital were reviewed between 2012 and 2018. Three stapler groups were assessed: Group 1 - Ethicon ECHELON FLEXTM Powered Vascular Stapler (PVS), Group 2 - Medtronic Endo-GIATM iDriveTM powered stapler, Group 3 - Ethicon and Medtronic manual staplers.

Results: Of 239 patients, 82 cases (34.3%) were Group 1, 94 cases (39.3%) were Group 2 and 63 cases (26.4%) were Group 3. Mean age was 68.3 years (range 36-88 years), and most patients received video-assisted right upper lobectomy (82.8%). Bleeding occurred in 24 cases: 17 (70.8%) in Group 2 and 7 (29.2%) cases in Group 3. No bleeding occurred in Group 1. The loaded ECHELON FLEXTM PVS and Endo-GIATM iDriveTM with gray cartridge combinations had the greatest and smallest closed anvil jaw gaps (>0.63 µm and <0.15 µm, respectively); Endo-GIATM iDriveTM gray cartridge combinations resulted in ruptures of inner and middle membranes of the pulmonary artery. No ruptures were observed using the ECHELON FLEXTM PVS.

Conclusion: An excessively narrow gap between cartridge and anvil may damage the blood vessel wall and lead to bleeding following transection. This study provides preliminary evidence that the use of the ECHELON FLEXTM PVS and tan cartridges for pulmonary artery stapling may help to prevent tissue damage and intraoperative bleeding.

Keywords: bleeding; pulmonary artery; stapler; surgery.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
(A) Comparison of powered endoscopic staplers (B) comparison of jaw angles and (C) histological findings after pulmonary arterial stapling. Histological sections of pulmonary artery tissue adjacent to the area of stapling were stained with Elastica van Gieson stain (X200). In (C) the pulmonary artery section is from stapling with the Endo-GIA™ iDrive™ plus gray cartridge. White arrows indicate the ruptured medial layer. Abbreviation: PVS, powered vascular stapler.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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