Heat dissipation after nonanatomical lung resection using a laser is mainly due to emission to the environment: An experimental ex vivo study

Abstract

Laser-directed resection of lung metastases is performed more frequently in recent years. The energy-loaded laser rays heat up the lung tissue, considerably. It is still unclear which mechanism is more important for tissue heat dissipation: the lung perfusion or the tissue emission. Therefore, we created a special experimental model to investigate the spontaneous heat dissipation after nonanatomical lung resection using a diode-pumped laser with a high output power. Experiments were conducted on paracardiac pig lung lobes (n=12) freshly dissected at the slaughterhouse. Nonanatomical resection of lung parenchyma was performed without lobe perfusion in group 1 (n=6), while group 2 (n=6) was perfused at a physiological pressure of 25 cm H2O at 37°C with saline via the pulmonary artery. For this, we used a diode-pumped neodymium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet (Nd:YAG) LIMAX® 120 laser (Gebrüder Martin GmbH & Co. KG, Tuttlingen, Germany) with a wavelength of 1,318 nm and a power output of 100 W. Immediately after completing laser resection, the lungs were monitored with an infrared camera (Type IC 120LV; Trotec, Heinsberg, Germany) while allowed to cool down. The resection surface temperature was taken at 10-s intervals and documented in a freeze-frame until a temperature of 37°C had been reached. The temperature drop per time unit was analyzed in both groups. Immediately after laser resection, the temperature at the lung surface was 84.33±8.08°C in group 1 and 76.75±5.33°C in group 2 (p=0.29). Group 1 attained the final temperature of 37°C after 182.95±53.76 s, and group 2 after 121.70±16.02 s (p=0.01). The temperature drop occurred exponentially in both groups. We calculated both groups' decays using nonlinear regression, which revealed nearly identical courses. The mean time of tissue temperature of >42°C, as a surrogate marker for tissue damage, was 97.14±26.90 s in group 1 and 65.00±13.78 s in group 2 (p=0.02). Heat emission to the environment surpasses heat reduction via perfusion in nonanatomically laser-resected lung lobes. In developing a cooling strategy, a topical cooling method would be promising. © 2013 The Author(s).