As reported for this event by the customer, during therapeutic gynecological promontofixation procedure, a probe damage error message was received for the device.The generator was turn off and then on again, and the procedure continued.A second probe damage error was received for the device.The surgeon removed the device from the patient¿s abdomen.While testing the device one of the device jaws broke off.The procedure was continued with a new similar device with an unspecified delay.There is no reported harm to the patient.
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This report is being supplemented to provide additional information based on the device evaluation and the legal manufacturer's final investigation.Three attempts were performed to obtain additional information, but no response was received from the customer.The device was returned and an evaluation was completed for it.During inspection, olympus confirmed the reported event, the probe was broken.Additionally, the coating of the grasping section was partially peeled off and an error code were found; however, these defects are not considered severe enough to cause a potential adverse event.A review of the device history record found no deviations that could have caused or contributed to the reported issue.Although a definitive root cause cannot be identified, the following step-by-step scenario likely caused the event: 1) during the output activation in seal & cut mode, the probe was contacting hard tissue, metal objects or surgical instruments.2) due to ultrasonic vibration, the coating of the probe peeled off.Also, scratches were generated.3) a force to activate the output in seal & cut mode, or a force to grasp the tissue was applied to the probe.Therefore, cracks were generated at the scratched area causing an error.4) a force was applied to the probe causing it to break.The following information is included in the instructions for use (ifu): ¿the thunderbeat instrument should be used for soft tissue.Do not activate output while grasping hard tissue such as bone or highly calcified tissue, or hard objects such as metal clips, stapler, or other instruments (e.G., uterine manipulator, forceps, and others).Otherwise, it may cause the probe tip to be scratched or come into direct contact with the metal area of the grasping section as the heat generated by the friction between the hard object and the probe tip could cause wear/deforming/splitting/protruding/partial separating of the tissue pad.In turn, the probe may break before displaying an error window or generating an alarm tone.¿ ¿do not grasp or let the probe tip contact hard objects such as metal clips, stapler, or other instruments (e.G., uterine manipulator).Also, be careful to avoid contacting the probe tip with those accidentally.Particularly during activation, a scratch on the probe tip could occur due to ultrasonic vibration, which leads the probe tip to break and fall off into the body cavity.In addition, the high-frequency (rf bipolar) current flows through the metal and generates spark discharge, which may cause burns and decrease functionalities.¿ ¿if the grasping section, metal-exposed area around it or the probe tip gets stuck in tissue during treatment, wipe it with a soft object such as a piece of gauze or a brush.Do not attempt to scrape it with a sharp object such as a scalpel or the tip of tweezers.Otherwise, the grasping section, metal-exposed area around it, the fluorine resin part, a coated surface or the probe tip may be scratched and damaged, which may lead to fall-off of the damaged part into the body cavity or burns of the tissue by a high-frequency leak current output due to destruction of the insulation structure.¿ olympus will continue to monitor the performance of this device.
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