Cavitron Ultrasonic Surgical Aspirator (CUSA) in liver resection

At the Istituto Nazionale Tumori of Milan, the Cavitron Ultrasonic Surgical Aspirator (CUSA) was employed to perform hepatic resections in 34 patients with primary or secondary liver tumors. The use of CUSA has proved to be very efficient and safe. In lobectomies and extended lobectomies average bleeding was 685 cc with a mean resection time of 28 minutes. In segmentectomies, average bleeding was 540 cc with a mean resection time of 22 minutes. Comparing these data with those we previously obtained in hepatic resections using traditional methods (digitoclasia), it appears that despite overall operative times suffering no significant variation, a considerable reduction in bleeding was obtained, together with a notable fall in post-operative complications.