Objectives: To evaluate the impact of variable rubber-shod hemostat (RSH) clamp pressures on urologic prosthesis tubing (UPT) integrity.
Methods: UPT segments were placed into four groups: control, RSH one-click, RSH three-click, or bare hemostat one-click. All experimental groups were clamped for 60 seconds at the point of intervention (POI). Linear force was applied to the tubing until the UPT separated into 2 pieces. Force at the time of failure (FF), tear location, and incidence of leakage before tearing were recorded. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) images were evaluated for UPT damage from each intervention.
Results: The protocol was completed 10 times per group (40 total). Median FF was 99.4 N (79.9-106.5), 104.8 N (78.1-111.0), 97.2 N (74.6-106.5), and 98.1 N (87.9-107.4) for control, RSH one-click, RSH three-click, and bare hemostat one-click, respectively (P=0.34). Tear location appeared random for all groups other than the bare hemostat one-click group, which tore at the POI in 6 of 10 (60%) experiments (p=0.000082). Only the bare hemostat one-click intervention caused leaking before a complete tear in 2 of 10 (20%) experiments. On SEM imaging, only the bare hemostat damaged the surface of the UPT.
Conclusions: RSH clamp pressures did not significantly compromise the durability of UPT; however, bare hemostats cause surface damage with a loss of material integrity.
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