A Randomized Control Trial to Assess Intraoperative and Postoperative Outcomes of Colorado Microdissection Needle Versus Conventional Surgical Knife in Neck Dissection.

Abstract

We designed a prospective randomized study to assess the outcome of Colorado microdissection needle in comparison with conventional surgical blade for performing neck dissections. Sixty patients who underwent neck dissection for oral cancers were randomly allocated into two groups. The outcome measurements were in terms of cosmetic outcome of neck scar, intraoperative blood loss, over all operative time, and postoperative neck drain assessment. The use of microdissection needle in performing skin incision and neck dissection eliminates the need for local anesthetic with vasoconstrictor along with significant reduction in intraoperative blood loss, postoperative drainage and with acceptable cosmetic outcome. No significant difference was seen in perioperative and postoperative complications between both groups.