Technology of water-jet dissection.

For about 20 years, water-jet dissection has been used as a surgical technique. Due to the development of suitable instruments, devices, and operation strategies, water-jet dissection is becoming increasingly interesting for applications, especially for dissections where the atraumatical and/or tissueselective preparation or separation of tissue structures is mandatory. Prerequisites for the effective and safe application of the water-jet dissection are, on the one side, the knowledge of the relevant physical characteristics of the tissues in question, as well as their mechanical connections, and, on the other side, the knowledge of the relevant physical effects of a water-jet. The present paper will deal with these aspects.