Low Energy Dissection Vs. Electrocautery Qualitative Severity and Depth of Thermal Artifact in Breast Cancer Lumpectomy Shaved Surgical Margins

When performing lumpectomy, surgeons have used electrocautery devices as dissecting tools. However, those devices use high thermal energy that might impact the margin cellular architecture and as such the quality of margin assessment by the pathologist. Moreover, recently, modern low thermal energy dissection devices have been introduced to the market. However, the impact of those devices on reducing the thermal injury/artifact on surgical margin has not been well investigated. 4,5 While Ruidaz et al. 2011 data suggest that using the traditional electrosurgical device in place of the low thermal-injury device results in 48% of the close margin samples being negatively converted to false-positive, and in 11% converting from close to false-negative, there is still a need for more studies to further characterize the utility of those devices. 6 PhotonBlade (Invuity, San Francisco, CA, USA) has been approved by United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA). PhotonBlade is a dynamic precision illuminator with enhanced energy delivery dissection device. The dynamic precision illumination is a thermally cool illumination technology that allows a uniformal illumination without glare or shadow. 7 The enhanced energy delivery technology allows low thermal spread, surgeon controlled edge temperature, and wet field use.7 As such, PhontonBlade allows better blade control for achieving adequate visualization, hemostasis, with a minimum collateral damage to the surgical margin tissue. The use of PhotonBlade demonstrated the least penetrating thermal tissue damage/spread when compared to other modern dissection devices (Valleylab Pencil, Valleylab EDGE Coated Pencil, PlasmaBlade 3.0S and PlasmaBlade 4.0).8