Death during laparoscopy: can 1 gas push out another? Danger of argon electrocoagulation

We report the death of a young man during a laparoscopic partial splenectomy performed with an argon plasma coagulator to remove a benign cyst. The report analyzes the very particular mechanism of a gas embolism, which caused death here. This analysis leads us to recommend a close attention on the u...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Surgical laparoscopy, endoscopy & percutaneous techniques Vol. 18; no. 4; pp. 395 - 397
Main Authors:	Sezeur, Alain, Partensky, Christian, Chipponi, Jacques, Duron, Jean-Jacques
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	United States 01-08-2008
Subjects:	Argon Electrocoagulation - adverse effects Embolism, Air - etiology Fatal Outcome Humans Laparoscopy - adverse effects Male Splenectomy - adverse effects Splenic Diseases - pathology Splenic Diseases - surgery Young Adult
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Summary:	We report the death of a young man during a laparoscopic partial splenectomy performed with an argon plasma coagulator to remove a benign cyst. The report analyzes the very particular mechanism of a gas embolism, which caused death here. This analysis leads us to recommend a close attention on the use of argon coagulators during laparoscopy. The aim of this article is to draw surgeons' attention to the conclusions of a court-ordered expert assessment intended to elucidate the mechanisms responsible for the death of a 20-year-old man during a laparoscopic partial splenectomy performed with an argon plasma coagulator to remove a benign cyst.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Case Study-2 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-4 content type line 23 ObjectType-Report-1 ObjectType-Article-3
ISSN:	1530-4515 1534-4908
DOI:	10.1097/SLE.0b013e318172b4fd