First clinical experience of argon neutral plasma energy in gynaecological surgery in the UK

Abstract

We describe the first in vivo use of neutral argon plasma energy in gynaecological surgery in the UK and the largest series worldwide. The use of PlasmaJet® (PJ) in different applications in 118 selected cases in a tertiary referral centre for gynaecological oncology and minimal access surgery was assessed. The effectiveness, ease of use, ergonomics and safety of PJ in gynaecological surgery is evaluated prospectively. Following this experience, we have devised a table of recommended power settings for different applications.

Use of PlasmaJet for Peritoneal Carcinomatosis in Ovarian Cancer

“…The thermal energy produced by the argon plasma also has unusual properties in that there is a rapid loss of energy from the particles within the plasma, resulting in only superficial tissue effects and minimal lateral thermal effects. 7 Surprisingly, only limited minimal data exist on the clinical application of the PlasmaJet for cytoreduction in peritoneal carcinomatosis, 7 and data from secondary debulking or in interval debulking in EOC are lacking or only reported as a case report. 8 …”

Comparison of tissue effects quantified histologically between PlasmaJet coagulator and Helica thermal coagulator

“…This work is not directly comparable to our study due to the differences in the power levels used and the tissue tested. Madhuri et al [12] evaluated in vivo the effectiveness ergonomics and safety of PlasmaJet TM in gynaecological surgery using different power settings. PlasmaJet TM was used in 118 cases of gynaecological oncology and minimal access surgery.…”

Chirurgie des endométriomes ovariens : de la physiopathologie à la prise en charge pratique pré-, per- et postopératoire

“…Il s'agit du Plasmajet ß (Plasma Surgical Limited, Abingdon, UK). Son utilisation pourrait être intéressante car la vaporisation et/ou coagulation des tissus est peu profonde et plus maniable [79,88,89]. Nous avons publié récemment des données encourageantes quant à l'impact de l'utilisation de cette méthode dans les endométriomes : cette méthode pourrait permettre de diminuer de 90 % la destruction ou l'ablation de parenchyme ovarien par rapport à une kystectomie classique (étude réalisée sur 10 endomé-triomes en réalisant une vaporisation première au Plasmajet ß puis une kystectomie classique) [79].…”