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Category: Health published by Syed Qayam Ali Published on: June 02, 2019, 3:34 pm EST Update: June 02, 2019, 3:34 pm EST
Washington: A new technique that illuminates blood flow during surgery, predicting complications and allowing surgeons to adjust during surgery or laryngeal repair to improve outcomes.
The study was published in the journal 'Annals of Surgical Oncology'.
"Damage from radiation is something you can not always see. There are very few examples in the literature that could explain or predict who will be complicating, "said Matthew E. Spector, lead author of the study.
The researchers recruited 41 patients undergoing laryngectomy after radiotherapy.
After removing the tumor but before closing the throat, the anesthesiologists administered to patients an intravenous injection of a type of medical dye, the indocyanine green.
The dye circulates in about 40 seconds. Surgeons then use laser angiography, which illuminates the dye and allows them to observe the blood flow.
The results were clear: patients with lower blood flow had a significantly higher risk of developing a fistula, while patients with high blood flow had a very low risk of wound complications.
Knowing this, Spector suggested some possible interventions.
You could cut a larger margin of tissue to get a cleaner, healthier edge. Another option is to keep high-risk patients longer in the hospital while returning home low-risk patients more quickly.
Most people with laryngeal cancer will have radiation therapy and chemotherapy. But about a third of the time, the cancer will reappear or prove resistant, leaving surgery in the background.
At this point, radiation damage to the tissue complicates the operation. When the surgeon closes the wound, the damaged tissue may interfere.
For about 40% of patients, this will result in a pharyngo-cutaneous fistula, a hole in the neck where saliva can flow.
It can cause bleeding or infections, force patients to stay longer in the hospital and, in 10% of cases, send them back to the operating room for treatment.
It is already used by other surgeons, especially for bad reconstruction. Many hospitals already own the equipment.
Source: ANI
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