Bilateral reduction mammaplasty with pulsed electron avalanche knife PlasmaBlade™ and conventional electrosurgical surgery: A retrospective, randomised controlled clinical trial

Wound-healing disorders are common complications in bilateral reduction mammaplasty. Traditional electrosurgical devices generate large amounts of thermal energy, often causing extensive thermal-related collateral tissue damage. This study aimed to retrospectively analyse the operative performance of a novel low-thermal plasma dissection device (pulsed electron avalanche knife-PEAK PlasmaBlade™) compared with traditional electrosurgery. Twenty patients with breast hypertrophy were randomly treated with PEAK PlasmaBlade™ on one breast and conventional electrosurgery on the other. Primary outcome measures were resection weight, drain duration, total drainage volume, and drain output on the first postoperative day. Breasts treated with PEAK PlasmaBlade™ had significantly higher resection weights (728.0 ± 460.1 g vs 661.6 ± 463.4 g; P = .038), significantly lower drain output on the first postoperative day (15.9 ± 15.2 mL vs 27.6 ± 23.5 mL; P = .023), and significantly lower drain durations (2.8 ± 1.0 days vs 3.3 ± 1.0 days; P = .030). Mean total drainage volume was lower where breast reduction was performed with PEAK PlasmaBlade™, but this difference was not significant. No major complications occurred, but wound-healing disorders were documented in almost one-third of the patients (35.0%, n = 7). The PEAK PlasmaBlade™ seems to be superior to conventional electrosurgery for bilateral reduction mammaplasty in terms of tissue damage and wound healing.