Scalpel versus electrosurgery for major abdominal incisions

Area of Science:

• Surgical Techniques
• Evidence-Based Medicine

Background:

• Electrosurgery offers potential benefits like reduced blood loss and surgeon injury during abdominal incisions.
• However, potential postsurgery risks include poor wound healing and infection.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the effects of electrosurgery versus scalpels for major abdominal incisions.

Main Methods:

• Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing electrosurgery and scalpel for abdominal incisions were analyzed.
• Primary outcomes included wound infection, healing time, and dehiscence; secondary outcomes assessed pain, incision time, and blood loss.

Main Results:

• No significant difference in wound infection rates was found between electrosurgery and scalpel (low-certainty evidence).
• Evidence is uncertain regarding wound dehiscence.
• Electrosurgery showed a clinically insignificant difference in incision time and a moderate difference in blood loss compared to scalpels.

Conclusions:

• The certainty of evidence is moderate to very low, primarily due to risk of bias and imprecision.
• No clear difference in wound infection rates between electrosurgery and scalpels.
• More research is required to establish the comparative effectiveness of these methods for major abdominal incisions.