title: Use of the 2-μm continuous wave thulium laser for the resection of oral squamous cell carcinomas does not impair pathological assessment.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Current resection modalities for oral squamous cell carcinomas (OSCC) vary from cold steel over CO2 laser to monopolar electro-surgery (MO). We compared thulium laser (TL) as a new modality with MO with regards to pathological assessment.
  
  
  METHODS
  Forty-two patients who were treated for OSCC by either TL or MO were included. All resected specimens were assessed with special attention to margin interpretation and thermal damage.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Depth of thermal damage ranged from 1.0 to 3.5 mm in the TL group compared to 1.0-4.0 mm in the MO group without interfering with the pathological assessment. The percentage of positive margin resections was three times higher in the MO group compared with the TL group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study shows resections done by TL do not impair pathological assessment when compared to MO resections.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Ajit J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Pothen
authors.forename: Januska
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Evenboer
authors.forename: Justin E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Swartz
authors.forename: Stefan M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Willems
authors.forename: Ellen M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Van Cann
authors.forename: Luuk M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Janssen
authors.forename: Geert J
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: van der Heijden
authors.forename: Wilko
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Grolman
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D053685:Laser Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009062:Mouth Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D037981:Neck Dissection; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D012307:Risk Factors; D013932:Thulium; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D013932:Thulium
keywords: electrosurgery; laser therapy; oral neoplasm; pathology; thulium