New ultrasonic tool for cosmetic surgery

Conventional tools used in rhinoplasty have limits and inconveniences. There are many tools available for cosmetic surgeons ranging from bone saws; carbide rasps to power-assisted rasps and many more but there are certain situations in which conventional tools are not good enough to get the best results. These conventional tools are subject to wear and tear, they might be difficult to handle or obstruct the visual pathway of the surgeon therefore a new generation of tools is needed.

Archives of Facial Plastic Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals has released a report which states that a new tool called ultrasonic bone aspirator may replace the conventional tools cosmetic surgeons use today. The tool provides many advantages but the most important one is that it doesn't damage the surrounding tissue as it uses sound waves to remove bone fragments. It is more refined and leaves almost no scars.

Earlier forms of this tool have been around since the 1960 when it was used in dental and ophthalmological procedures. It was introduced in 1970 to neurosurgery and it has become ever since the most preferred tool for the resection of all types of brain tumors.

The device was tested on 103 patients who underwent cosmetic rhinoplasty. The development of the operation and the state of the patients afterwards was reviewed by Jewel D. Greywoode, M.D., and Edmund A. Pribitkin, M.D., from the Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, Philadelphia who said that even though there are no long term results to be analyzed the tool could find applications in many fields because it offers a high level of safety.
The study revealed that no patient had suffered from skin and soft tissue injuries but 6.8 percent of the patients developed minor complications. The patients were closely followed after their operation for various time intervals. The device was used most for smoothing of the nose's bony edges as it was done for all the patients.

The characteristics of this new tool make it ideal for small fine operations such as rhinoplasty but other cosmetic operations could benefit from it as well.

Add comment January 27th, 2006