Abstract
Although vessel-sealing systems have been shown useful for dissection of small-diameter vessels, no studies to date have evaluated the optimal angle of dissection. Lateral thermal damage to a canine pulmonary artery was assessed microscopically. Burst pressure was compared in swine carotid arteries undergoing orthogonal and oblique dissections to determine the safer dissection technique. Histological analysis of a canine model revealed a thermal spread of approximately 1.3 mm. Burst pressure comparison showed no significant differences between orthogonal and oblique dissection angles (829.2 mmHg [range 608–1214 mmHg] vs. 949.1 mmHg [range, 593–1306 mmHg], P = 0.206). In a surrogate arterial model, burst pressure did not differ between orthogonal and oblique cuts. Given histologically limited lateral thermal spread on PA, angle may be less critical than avoiding vessel tension. These findings may contribute to the safer application of vessel-sealing systems in patients undergoing minimally invasive thoracic surgery.
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The datasets used and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
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Acknowledgements
The authors wish to thank Takahisa Orita, Yukihiro Suzuki and Taichi Orikasa for contributing to the analysis and assisting with the preparation of the experiment.
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Yuichiro Ueda conceived and designed the study, performed the experiments, analyzed the data, and drafted the manuscript. Jun-ichi Wakahara, So Miyahara, Hiroyasu Nakajima, and Yoshiko Masuda contributed to data acquisition and interpretation. Fumihiro Shoji and Takeshi Shiraishi provided critical revisions for important intellectual content. Toshihiko Sato supervised the study and approved the final version of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Ueda, Y., Wakahara, Ji., Miyahara, S. et al. Optimizing the dissection of small-diameter pulmonary vessels using vessel-sealing systems. Sci Rep (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-39741-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-39741-8
