72094 - Ultrasonic scissors reduce postoperative seroma after mastectomy and axillary surgery: a single operator experience

Introduction Seroma formation and subsequent aspiration frequently occurs after mastectomy. A commonly associated complication after aspiration is infection. The aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of using ultrasonic advanced energy device (UED) to reduce seroma. Method Patients who had non-reconstructive mastectomy, with or without axillary surgery, using a UED were retrospectively compared with those using electrocautery (EC). Primary endpoints were seroma aspiration within 90 days and secondary endpoints were surgical site infection (SSI) and operation time. All procedures were conducted by the same surgeon (KC). Result Twenty-nine UED patients were compared with 79 EC patients. There were no major differences in basic characteristics between the two groups. In the UED group 10.3% required seroma aspirations compared with 43.1% in the EC group (p<0.001). There was 5.9% of UED patients who had infections compared with 13.9% of EC patients (p=0.32). Average length of operation was 122.2 minutes for UED compared with 96.6 minutes for EC (p=0.003) (table 1). Discussion Although the operative time was longer with UED, there were significantly fewer patients who needed seroma aspirations and who developed SSI. Despite there was a clinically relevant difference in SSI of 8% in favor of- UED, this difference was not statistically significant.