title: [Electrocautery versus Stapler for Intersegmental Plane Dissection in Complete  Thoracoscopic Segmentectomy].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Complete thoracoscopic segmentectomy gained great attention with the high detection rate of early lung cancer. Electrocautery and stapler are most commonly used in dividing the intersegmental plane in pulmonary segmentectomy. However, few reports comparing the two methods exist; all of which contrapose an open approach because complete thoracoscopic approach is not mentioned. The aim of this study is to evaluate and compare the safety and efficacy of the two methods in intersegmental plane dissection during complete thoracoscopic pulmonary segmentectomy.
  
  
  METHODS
  A retrospective review of prospectively collected data was obtained for 58 consecutive patients who were treated by segmentectomy between September 2013 and March 2016 at a single center. The patients were divided into two groups according to the methods in intersegmental plane dissection. Thirty patients underwent intersegmental plane dissection with electrocautery (electrocautery group), and 28 patients underwent the same process using staplers (stapler group). Preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative variables for patients were compared between two groups.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The operative time of electrocautery group was longer than that of the stapler group [(248.70±54.46) min vs (209.39±67.25) min, P=0.017]. Furthermore, no statistical difference was found between two groups in intraoperative blood loss (60.00 mL vs 65.00 mL), total drainage volume (445.00 mL vs 590.00 mL), drainage volume in first 3 days after surgery [(455.33±318.333) mL vs (422.32±194.95) mL], duration of chest tube drainage [(4.20±2.07) d vs (4.11±1.61) d], postoperative hospital stay [(6.33±2.98) d vs (5.89±1.55) d], and incidence of minor postoperative complication [16.7% (5/30) vs 7.1% (2/28)].
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Although operative time was longer in electrocautery group than in stapler group, using electrocautery for intersegmental plane dissection in complete thoracoscopic segmentectomy appeared to be a very safe and feasible procedure compared with stapler.
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic Surgery, Peking University First Hospital, Beijing 100034, China.
authors.forename: Haibo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic Surgery, Peking University First Hospital, Beijing 100034, China.
authors.forename: Gang
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic Surgery, Peking University First Hospital, Beijing 100034, China.
authors.forename: Shijie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic Surgery, Peking University First Hospital, Beijing 100034, China.
authors.forename: Weiming
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic Surgery, Peking University First Hospital, Beijing 100034, China.
authors.forename: Xueqian
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Shang
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic Surgery, Peking University First Hospital, Beijing 100034, China.
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D004564:Electrocoagulation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011013:Pneumonectomy / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods*; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000209:etiology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013906:Thoracoscopy; D016896:Treatment Outcome