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Abstract Background The aim of surgery for advanced-stage ovarian cancer is a complete cytoreduction, because this is the most important independent prognostic factor for prolonged survival. Yet this can be difficult to achieve when there are micrometastases on the intestinal mesentery or intestines. The PlasmaJet device is an instrument to remove these micrometastases, but little is known about the depth of damage in human tissue compared to electrocoagulation devices. Methods A prospective study was performed for the ex-vivo comparison of the histological depth of thermal damage of neutral argon plasma (PlasmaJet®) and electrocoagulation devices, in a series of 106 histological slides of 17 advanced-stage ovarian cancer patients. Depending on the tissue types resected during complete cytoreductive surgery, samples were collected from reproductive organs (uterus, ovaries), intestines (ileum, colon, rectum) and omentum, intestinal mesentery and peritoneum. Results Average thermal damage depth was 0.15 mm (range 0.03–0.60 mm) after use of neutral argon plasma and 0.33 mm (range 0.08–1.80 mm) after use of electrocoagulation (p