Medical Research

Clinical and Economic Research Shows Improved Outcomes Using Vector Surgical Devices

Evidence: MarginMarker™ allows “surgeons to better target the area of potential residual disease…”

Medical research shows a compelling need for more accurate specimen orientation and demonstrates the improved outcomes and cost-effectiveness from using MarginMarker.

Evidence: Inaccurate Margin Identification Using Suture

Molina et al. reported a 31% overall disagreement rate between surgeons and pathologists when orienting excised tissue using suture. Altman et al. summarized this, stating “If a pathologist found a positive margin, there was nearly a one in three chance that a surgeon would re-excise the wrong margin.” Arnaout et al. replicated the finding, reporting a 42% overall discordance rate.

Evidence: Fewer, More Accurate Re-excisions Using MarginMarker

Altman et al. recently reported a significantly higher incidence of residual cancer in re-excision specimens oriented using MarginMarker compared to suture. The authors concluded that MarginMarker inks “provide a more accurate 3-dimensional location of the true positive margin.”

Evidence: MarginMarker is Cost-Effective

Researchers using MarginMarker concluded that “surgeon performed intraoperative specimen inking is not only a more accurate method for specimen orientation, but it is also cost-effective.

References

1. Adsay NV, Basturk O, Saka B, et al. Whipple made simple for surgical pathologists: orientation, dissection, and sampling of pancreaticoduodenectomy specimens for a more practical and accurate evaluation of pancreatic, distal common bile duct, and ampullary tumors. Am J Surg Pathol. 2014;38(4):480-493.
2. Altman AM, Nguyen DD, Johnson B, et al. Intraoperative inking is superior to suture marking for specimen orientation in breast cancer. Breast J. 2020; 26(4):661-667.
3. Arnaout A, Robertson S, Gravel D, Rockwell G, Ayroud Y. The specimen margin assessment technique (SMART) trial: a novel 3-D method of identifying the most accurate method of breast specimen orientation. Paper presented at: Society of Surgical Oncology Annual Cancer Symposium 2016; Boston, MA.
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