New Surgical Technology Offers Better Outcomes for Women’s Reproductive Disorders:
Stanford First in Bay Area to Offer PlasmaJet®

	View larger. Camran Nezhat, MD, used a brand-new surgical instrument called the PlasmaJet to remove Shannon Foley’s endometriosis. Foley said she is now pain free. “He gave me my life back.” Video length: 4 min

For Immediate Release-05/19/09

Media Contact: Liat Kobza, 650-723-1462, lkobza@stanfordmed.org
Writer: Paula Zimlicki, 650-723-1340, pzimlicki@stanfordmed.org

STANFORD, Calif.— Shannon Foley, 20 years old, could not imagine spending the rest of her life suffering from chronic pain three weeks out of every four. It did not seem normal to her that a menstrual cycle could routinely cause pain severe enough that she had to alter her daily routine for more than half the month. Two physicians she consulted told her “it was part of being a woman and to take Motrin.”  Two weeks after surgery with a new technology that removed diseased tissue in her reproductive system without affecting its full function, Shannon was back to her classes as a drama major at San Francisco State University. Her physician was world-renowned surgeon Camran Nezhat, MD, of  Stanford Hospital & Clinics, a pioneer of minimally invasive surgery for the treatment of diseases of the female reproductive system. Nezhat diagnosed the cause of Shannon’s chronic pain as endometriosis.

Nezhat used a brand-new surgical instrument based on technology that produces high-energy particles that can penetrate the tissue without producing heat. The PlasmaJet® system represents a pioneering approach to excising diseased tissue, Nezhat said. Unlike traditional surgical instruments that inhibit the surgeon’s ability to adequately excise endometrial growths without the risk of damaging normal tissue, the PlasmaJet vaporizes unhealthy tissue with such precision that healthy tissue and a woman’s fertility can be preserved. Because there is less damage to internal tissues, women experience less pain after surgery and a shorter recovery time.

Stanford Hospital & Clinics, a leader in advanced surgeries for female reproductive disorders, is the first hospital in the San Francisco Bay Area to offer PlasmaJet technology for laparoscopic treatment of endometriosis.

Endometriosis is a chronic disease in which tissue that is on the inside lining of the uterus—the endometrium—is found outside the uterus on the fallopian tubes, ovaries, cervix, vagina, bowel, bladder, blood vessels, and even the lungs and thighs. It can cause pelvic pain and infertility. Approximately five and a half million women in the United States and Canada and millions more worldwide have endometriosis.

“This is a new frontier in laparoscopic treatment of endometriosis,” said Nezhat. “Because the PlasmaJet can be used on or around sensitive tissue and organs, we can now completely eliminate endometriosis on or near the fallopian tubes, ovaries, cervix, bowel, bladder, and blood vessels. With electrosurgery-based equipment, endometriosis on or around these sensitive areas cannot necessarily be removed as easily and as safely. By completely eliminating endometriosis, women have a better chance of remaining fertile and have less pain.”

For decades, a woman’s only option was traditional open abdominal surgery, which meant a large incision in her abdomen and a six to eight week recovery. More recently, laparoscopy with additional instruments—electronics, scissors and robotics, for example—in which unhealthy tissue is burned away or removed, lessened the recovery time and postsurgical pain. However, these instruments are not as precise as the PlasmaJet, which means a risk that healthy tissue will be damaged at the same time as unhealthy tissue is removed. “In areas that are difficult to reach, it also means that a surgeon may have to leave behind some of the endometriosis because the risk of damaging healthy organs is too great,” Nezhat said.

In the PlasmaJet system, a low flow of a special type of gas is concentrated into a small space that emerges from the PlasmaJet’s tip as a mixture of high energy particles in a jet stream of what looks like pale blue light. It penetrates the tissue without producing heat. The precision of the jet stream rapidly seals the tissue’s surface and helps to prevent bleeding, which improves surgical recovery time. The particles are electrically neutral, so no electrical current goes into the patient, which helps avoid the kind of burning that can happen with electrocautery surgery.

When Nezhat told her he had been able to remove all of the endometrial tissue, Foley said she felt hope for the first time since she began menstruating at the age of 13. “I remember thinking that now I could again plan movie dates and attend drama classes without being limited by pain. He gave me my life back,” she said.

The day after her operation, Shannon was recuperating at her parents’ house. Within one week, she was walking, cooking, and able to take care of herself, excitedly returning to her apartment in San Francisco.  “Now, I won’t have to wonder if pain will keep me from going to auditions. I am looking forward this summer to discovering what until now I have been too sick to explore,” she said.

About Stanford Hospital & Clinics
Stanford Hospital & Clinics is known worldwide for advanced treatment of complex disorders in areas such as cardiovascular care, cancer treatment, neurosciences, surgery, and organ transplants. Consistently ranked among the top institutions in the U.S. News & World Report annual list of “America’s Best Hospitals,” Stanford Hospital & Clinics is internationally recognized for translating medical breakthroughs into the care of patients. It is part of the Stanford University Medical Center, along with the Stanford University School of Medicine and Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford. For more information, visit http://stanfordmedicine.org.