Search

Simple Summary: It is important to take into account a patient's quality-of-life after surgery, especially after introducing a new surgical device. The aim of this study was to determine whether the use of the PlasmaJet Surgical device during surgery has an effect on the quality-of-life of patients with advanced ovarian cancer. This study showed that the use of the PlasmaJet Surgical device during surgery leads to a higher quality-of-life than surgery with electrocoagulation alone. The difference in quality-of-life between the groups is mainly in physical and role functioning, fatigue, and pain. A possible explanation could be the differences in tissue damage when working with different equipment during surgery. The PlasmaJet infiltrates the tissue less deeply than electrosurgery. Especially in surgery involving extensive peritoneal stripping, the surgeon must be aware of the effect of the instrument used. Background: Knowledge of quality-of-life after cytoreductive surgery is important to counsel patients with advanced-stage epithelial ovarian cancer prior to surgery. The aim of this study was to determine whether the use of the PlasmaJet Surgical device during cytoreductive surgery has an effect on the quality-of-life of patients with advanced epithelial ovarian cancer. Methods: Data included in this prospective observational study were derived from the PlaComOv study, in which patients with advanced epithelial ovarian cancer were randomly assigned to have cytoreductive surgery with or without adjuvant use of the PlasmaJet. Quality-of-life was measured before surgery and one, six, 12, and 24 months after surgery with three questionnaires: the EORTC QLQ-C30, QLQ-OV28, and EQ-5D-5L. Results: Between 2018 and 2020, 326 patients were enrolled in the trial. The overall response rate was high, with the lowest response rate at 24 months of 77%. At 6 months, quality-of-life was higher in the intervention group (95%CI 0.009; 0.081, p = 0.045). At 12 months, quality-of-life was higher in the intervention group with fewer symptoms of fatigue, appetite loss, and diarrhea (95%CI 0.6; 10,0, p = 0.027); similarly, patients in the intervention group reported a better body image (95%CI −14.2; −3.0, p = 0.003) and a higher score on the visual analog scale (95%CI 1.99; 11.15, p = 0.005). At 24 months postoperatively, no further difference was found between the two groups except for pain (95%CI −12.9; −0.8, p = 0.027) and body image (95%CI −13.808; −0.733, p = 0.029). A higher quality-of-life in the intervention group was partially explained by the mediator 'surgery outcome'. Conclusions: This study demonstrated knowledge of patients' quality-of-life until two years after cytoreductive surgery. The use of the PlasmaJet Surgical device during cytoreductive surgery leads to a higher quality-of-life than conventional surgery with electrocoagulation alone. Even after adjustment for the mediator of surgical outcome, a higher quality-of-life was seen in patients who had surgery with the use of the PlasmaJet device. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]