Limited lung resection using the potassium-titanyl-phosphate laser.
OBJECTIVE
Recently, the use of the potassium-titanyl-phosphate (KTP) laser with a wavelength of 532 nm, which is half the wavelength of the neodymium:yttrium-aluminum-garnet (Nd:YAG) laser, has been expanding in many fields, since this laser offers hemostasis and vaporization with minimal coagulation of the underlying structures. The purpose of this study was to determine the usefulness of the KTP laser in limited lung resection done for pulmonary nodular lesions.


METHODS
We used the KTP laser to manage 10 partial resections (Group 1) and 16 segmentectomies (Group 2). The variables that were used to compare the two methods of resection included intra-operative blood loss, mean drainage time, and post-operative morbidity.


RESULTS
The mean intra-operative blood loss was smaller in Group 1 (152.8 +/- 65.0 cc, P = 0.002) than in Group 2 (341.9 +/- 178.6 cc). Mean drainage time was shorter in Group 1 (1.8 +/- 1.0 days, P = 0.0141) than in Group 2 (3.6 +/- 2.9 days). The results of both groups with respect to hemostatic and healing effects were satisfactory. On histopathologic evaluation, the KTP laser-irradiated field tissue alteration consisted of two layers with a depth up to 2 mm.


CONCLUSIONS
The results of this study suggest that the KTP laser has the potential to become a useful and reliable tool for limited lung resection.
Department of Translational Medical Sciences, Division of Surgical Oncology, Nagasaki University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Nagasaki 852-8501, Japan. nagayasu@net.nagasaki-u.ac.jp
Takeshi
T
Nagayasu
Keitaro
K
Matsumoto
Shigeyuki
S
Morino
Tsutomu
T
Tagawa
Akihiro
A
Nakamura
Takafumi
T
Abo
Naoya
N
Yamasaki
Tomayoshi
T
Hayashi
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D016063:Blood Loss, Surgical; D001810:Blood Volume; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D004322:Drainage; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D053685:Laser Therapy / Q000009:adverse effects; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010710:Phosphates; D011013:Pneumonectomy; D003074:Solitary Pulmonary Nodule / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D014025:Titanium; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D010710:Phosphates; C064806:potassium titanylphosphate; D014025:Titanium