[Ultrasonic scalpel].
An ultrasonic scalpel is now an essential item for cardiac surgery, especially coronary artery bypass surgery. It has 2 different physiologic mechanisms called cavitation fragmentation and protein coagulation. In 1998 we developed a new technique for harvesting internal thoracic arteries (ITAs) safely and simply in a completely skeletonized fashion by applying the salient characteristic of the ultrasonic scalpel This new method, ultrasonic complete skeletonization (UCS), has enabled us to obtain longer ITAs, more ITA-flow with minimal invasiveness and better results than conventional methods of pedicle isolation. In addition, it has substantially expanded the area of possible coverage with an ITA graft. In conclusion, an ultrasonic scalpel has contributed largely to improvement in quality of coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) enabling routine use of bilateral ITAs.
Higami
Tetsuya
T
Department of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery, Sapporo Medical University, Sapporo, Japan.
D001026:Coronary Artery Bypass / Q000295:instrumentation*; D006801:Humans; D014464:Ultrasonic Therapy / Q000295:instrumentation*