title: Incidental bronchial injury by soft coagulation.
abstract: Soft coagulation is a hemostat system of electrosurgical units, which automatically regulates its output voltage below 200 V, to avoid excessive output that causes carbonization of the target tissue. However, this new minimally invasive technology still has the potential risk of tissue damage during surgery. We encountered three patients with bronchial injury caused by the above system; one of whom had bronchopleural fistula. This is believed to be the first report emphasizing the adverse effects of the soft coagulation system in thoracic surgery, giving a warning to the application of this convenient device.
authors.affiliation: Department of General Thoracic Surgery, Jichi Medical University, Yakushiji, Shimotsuke, Tochigi 329-0498, Japan.
authors.forename: Tomoki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Shibano
authors.affiliation: Department of General Thoracic Surgery, Jichi Medical University, Yakushiji, Shimotsuke, Tochigi 329-0498, Japan.
authors.forename: Shunsuke
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Endo
authors.affiliation: Department of General Thoracic Surgery, Jichi Medical University, Yakushiji, Shimotsuke, Tochigi 329-0498, Japan.
authors.forename: Shinichi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Otani
authors.affiliation: Department of General Thoracic Surgery, Jichi Medical University, Yakushiji, Shimotsuke, Tochigi 329-0498, Japan.
authors.forename: Tomoyuki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nakano
keywords: Thoracic surgery; bronchial fistula; equipment