When it comes to the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer, minimizing tissue trauma can be very important in speeding up your patients' recovery.
At Ethicon, we want to help you get the best medical results for your patients. Our focus on the management of living tissue during open and minimally invasive procedures led us to acquire and develop a range of ultrasonic energy devices using what we call HARMONIC® Technology.
For mastectomy, sentinel node biopsy and axillary node dissection, HARMONIC FOCUS® Curved Shears offers distinct advantages. It can precisely grasp, dissect, cut and coagulate near vital structures with minimal thermal spread and tissue desiccation1. And because it's multifunctional, it reduces instrument exchanges.1
HARMONIC FOCUS also allows you to seal lymphatics and when used in breast conserving surgery, it resulted in a 62.5% reduction in breast drainage and a 36% reduction in drain days, as compared to conventional surgery.* And with HARMONIC Technology, no electricity passes through or into your patient, so there's no current-induced neuromuscular stimulation.1
Additionally, whether the surgery uses a laparoscopic or open approach, wound closure plays an integral role in patient outcomes. While the fascia and skin heals, the wound closure device provides the strength and support necessary to maintain wound integrity and avoid complications such as dehiscence and surgical site infections.155
To help achieve excellent outcomes during wound closure, Ethicon offers several innovative technologies such as STRATAFIX™ Knotless Tissue Control Devices. With significantly more points of fixation than traditional sutures, STRATAFIX™ Devices provide a combination of more consistent control, strength and security, and more efficiency.
For greater protection, we have the DERMABOND® Portfolio, which transforms skin closure with a complete set of solutions that add strength and protection against bacterial contamination to an incision.1,117 Ethicon also offers Plus Antibacterial Sutures, the only commercially available sutures that protect against colonization of the suture by pathogens commonly associated with surgical site infections.
Site References
- * From clinical studies in which cumulative serous drainage and number of days with drain were significantly lower when HARMONIC® was used for axillary dissection: -Lumachi F, Burelli P, Basso SM, et al. Usefulness of Ultrasound Scissors in Reducing Serous Drainage After Axillary Dissection for Breast Cancer: A Prospective Randomized Clinical Study. The American Surgeon 2004 Jan;70:80-84. N=76. Drainage volume: 407.6 +/- 136.1 mL HARMONIC® v. 492.4 +/- 153.4 mL cold steel, p=0.013. Drain days: 5.1 +/- 1.3 days HARMONIC® v. 6.3 +/- 1.5 days cold steel, p=0.0007. HARMONIC® Coagulating Shears (CS14C) were likely used in this study. -Sanguinetti A, Docimo G, Ragusa M, et al. Ultrasound Scissors Versus Electrocautery in Axillary Dissection: Our Experience. G Chir 2010 April;31:151-153. N=70. Drainage volume: 200 +/- 130 mL HARMONIC® v. 450 +/- 230 mL monopolar electrosurgery, p<0.05. Drain days: 2 days HARMONIC® v. 4 days monopolar electrosurgery, p<0.05. HARMONIC WAVE® Open Shears (WAVE18S) were used in this study.
