Plasma Device Functions and Tissue Effects in the Female Pelvis—A Systematic Review

Abstract

Medical use of (non-)thermal plasmas is an emerging field in gynaecology. However, data on plasma energy dispersion remain limited. This systematic review presents an overview of plasma devices, fields of effective application, and impact of use factors and device settings on tissues in the female pelvis, including the uterus, ovaries, cervix, vagina, vulva, colon, omentum, mesenterium, and peritoneum. A search of the literature was performed on 4 January 2023 in the Medline Ovid, Embase, Cochrane, Web of Science, and Google Scholar databases. Devices were classified as plasma-assisted electrosurgery (ES) using electrothermal energy, neutral argon plasma (NAP) using kinetic particle energy, or cold atmospheric plasma (CAP) using non-thermal biochemical reactions. In total, 8958 articles were identified, of which 310 were scanned, and 14 were included due to containing quantitative data on depths or volumes of tissues reached. Plasma-assisted ES devices produce a thermal effects depth of <2.4 mm. In turn, NAP effects remained superficial, <1.0 mm. So far, the depth and uniformity of CAP effects are insufficiently understood. These data are crucial to achieve complete treatment, reduce recurrence, and limit damage to healthy tissues (e.g., prevent perforations or preserve parenchyma). Upcoming and potentially high-gain applications are discussed, and deficits in current evidence are identified.