Department of Otolaryngology, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, No. 1650, Sec 4, Taiwan Boulevard, Taichung, Taiwan; Faculty of Medicine, School of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan; Department of Medical Education and Research, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan. . Faculty of Medicine, School of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan.
European Archives of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology : Official Journal of the European Federation of Oto-Rhino-Laryngological Societies (Eufos) : Affiliated With the German Society for Oto-Rhino-Laryngology - Head and Neck Surgery. 2016;273((1)):245-50.
We investigated the impact of fibrin glue on postoperative drainage amount and duration in head and neck cancer patients who underwent neck dissection. This study was a prospective randomized controlled trial. Patients who were scheduled to undergo neck dissection due to head and neck cancer were eligible for this study. After receiving a detailed explanation, all patients signed an informed
consent form before enrollment. Patients were then randomly assigned to the study group (fibrin glue) or control group. In the study group, 2 ml of fibrin glue (Tissucol((R)); Duploject, Baxter AG) was applied on the surface of the surgical wound before closure. Basic demographic data along with tumor-related features, operation-related variables, postoperative drainage amount/duration, postoperative pain, and analgesic usage were collected and analyzed. A total of 15 patients were included in the final analyses, with eight patients in the study group and seven patients in the control group. No significant differences were found between the two groups in age, gender, primary site, clinical N stage, neck dissection levels, perioperative bleeding, postoperative drainage amount/duration, hospitalization duration, and postoperative pain status. The application of 2 ml fibrin glue by the method described herein did not reduce the postoperative drainage amount/duration nor the postoperative pain status in patients who underwent neck dissection.
