A potential hazard of the use of the surgical ultrasonic aspirator in tumor reductive surgery.

The surgical ultrasonic aspirator (USA) is a recently developed surgical instrument being used for an increasingly wide range of surgical procedures including tumor reductive surgery in patients with advanced ovarian carcinoma. This paper introduces a potential hazard of the use of this instrument. It was determined that the mist produced by the ultrasonic aspirator during tumor reductive surgery contains intact and possibly viable cancer cells.