Comparison of Electrocautery and Scalpel Methods in Surgical Incisions of Hysterectomy Surgery

Aims: Surgical incisions have been performed by a scalpel for many years, and today, the use of an alternative method, catheter incision, is increasing daily. This study aimed to evaluate the complications of using electrocautery and scalpel in surgical abdominal wall incisions in hysterectomy surgery. Materials Methods: The present single-blind study was performed on 92 eligible women undergoing hysterectomy surgery with a transverse incision in Imam Sajjad Hospital, Yasuj, Iran. Patients were randomly divided into hysterectomy with a scalpel (46 samples) and electrocautery (46 samples). Then, post-surgery infection after the surgery, the extent of wound separation after a month, pain intensity in the first, second, and eighth days after the surgery, blood loss (weighting consumed blood gauzes before and after surgery), in both groups of scalpel and electrocautery were measured and compared. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics in SPSS 19 software. Findings: The two groups were similar in age, cause of hysterectomy, and type of delivery. There were no significant differences between the two groups in postoperative infection rate, incision time, and wound separation rate. However, a significant difference was indicated in the distribution of pain intensity in the electrocautery group on the first (p 0.001), second (p 0.001), and eighth day after surgery (p=0.03), and blood loss (p=0.017), which were reported significantly lower than in the scalpel group. Conclusion: The electrocautery method causes less pain intensity and blood loss than the scalpel method.