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"I don't want what I went through
to be meaningless...
I've gone
through something that
a lot
of patients
don't survive."
– Trudy Hamilton, R.N., Tampa, Florida
Click
here to see a two-minute video explaining the patient
safety risk during laparoscopic surgery. |
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Unintended tissue damage resulting
from stray energy burns during laparoscopic surgery can cause
patient injury and may result in serious post-operative complications,
even death.
During laparoscopy, stray energy burns can occur to non-targeted
tissue, outside the surgeon’s field-of-view. In fact,
injuries related to the electrosurgical equipment account
for 5.4% of all injuries that occur with laparoscopic surgery.
Burn injuries are often unrecognized during surgery. It may be several days before
the patient returns to the physician complaining of severe abdominal pain. Post-operative
complications due to stray energy burns include, but are not limited to, peritonitis and sepsis,
conditions that can result in death.
When you consider that an estimated 4 million laparoscopies are performed annually
in the U.S, patient safety becomes a primary concern. Converting to AEM technology
can safeguard patients against unintended
patient injury during laparoscopic surgery.
Stray energy is any energy that is outside
of the intended electrical path. In the figure below, Zone
1 is the area at the tip of the active electrode in view
of the surgeon. Zone 2 encompasses the area just outside
the field of view of the surgeon to the end of the cannula.
Zone 3 is the area of the active electrode covered by the
cannula system. Zone 4 is the portion of the electrode
and cannula that is outside the patient's body. During
laparoscopy, 90% or more of the active electrode may be
outside the surgeon’s field
of view in Zones 2, 3 and 4 where stray energy burns can
occur to non-targeted tissue.
Four Zones of
the Electrical Path –
one
intended path
and three unintended paths that can cause potential
injury
Stray energy burns can occur from leakage
current of two common causes — Insulation
Failure and Capacitive Coupling. |
