Open AccessClinical Thermal Effects of Flexible Fiber CO 2 Laser
Author(s) -
Mendelsohn Abie,
Remacle Marc J.,
Lawson Georges,
Bachy Vincent,
Weynand Birgit
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
otolaryngology–head and neck surgery
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.232
H-Index - 121
eISSN - 1097-6817
pISSN - 0194-5998
DOI - 10.1177/0194599812451426a83
Subject(s) - coagulative necrosis , laser , medicine , microsurgery , transoral laser microsurgery , coagulation , head and neck , fiber , fiber laser , laser coagulation , pathology , laser surgery , biomedical engineering , surgery , materials science , nuclear medicine , radiation therapy , head and neck cancer , optics , composite material , physics , visual acuity
Objective To date no clinical investigations have reported on the coagulation effects of flexible fiber CO 2 laser delivery to head and neck tissue, the results of which have a direct impact for the progression of transoral laser microsurgery. The objective of the present study was to investigate the histopathologic thermal effects of a flexible fiber CO 2 laser delivery system. Method A prospective histopathologic analysis of 15 consecutive transoral laser microsurgery specimens using the same CO 2 fiber system were subjected to dedicated histopathologic analyses. Repeated coagulation depth measurements of 2 independent clinical pathologists were averaged. Specimens were stratified into lymphoid or epitheloid groups for further comparison. Results The mean coagulation depth across all specimens was 81.53 um (SD, 38.73; range, 15.00‐360.34). Although the mean coagulation depth in lymphoid tissues (mean, 75.38 um; SD, 15.91) was elevated over the mean depth of epitheloid tissues (mean, 90.74 um; SD, 31.21), there was no significant difference ( P =. 11). Conclusion With an average coagulation depth of 81.53 um the flexible fiber thermal effect compares favorably to tissue effect of line‐of‐sight lasers. Epitheloid and lymphoid tissues displayed equivalent coagulative effects. To our knowledge, this is the first clinical description of flexible CO 2 laser delivery thermal effects of tissues of the head and neck.