The use of the LigaSure™ in esophagectomy

Abstract

This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of the LigaSure™ vessel sealing system (LVSS) when used for esophagectomy. We compared 56 consecutive patients (32 male and 24 female, mean age: 56.64 ± 12.61 years), who had undergone Ivor-Lewis esophagectomy for esophageal carcinoma between January 2005 and May 2009. Among them, from January 2005 to April 2007, 27 patients (group 1) were operated on with the conventional clamp-and-tie technique, whereas from April 2007 to May 2009, 29 patients (group 2) underwent total esophagectomy for esophageal cancer with the LVSS. Both groups were compared for operation duration, amount of intraoperative bleeding, postoperative hospitalization time, and intraoperative complications. In the evaluation of the patients, the two groups had similar distributions of age and gender. The duration of operation (349.44±46.82 min vs. 288.27 ± 60.09 min, P<0.05) and the amount of intraoperative bleeding (414.82 ± 137.04 ml vs. 217.41±111.78 ml, P<0.05) were significantly lower in LVSS group than in the conventional method group. There were no differences for hospitalization time and intraoperative complications between the groups. LVSS significantly shortens operation duration and decreases the amount of intraoperative bleeding compared with the conventional methods, but does not provide advantages for hospitalization time and/or intraoperative complications. We believe LVSS is an effective and reliable method for esophagus surgery. © 2010 Published by European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery.