Press

We recently wrote about Bettina Thomas, director of the cardiovascular operating room for
AdventHealth Tampa, who lead her entire team of harvesters in migrating to the Venapax system. We sat down with Jason Lynn, CFA, at AdventHealth Tampa, to get his perspective on the move to Venapax.

Saphena: Jason, Tell us a little about yourself. How long have you been doing EVH?
Jason: I’ve been in the medical field for 20 years and I have been harvesting veins for the past 6 years. For the first 4 years I harvested vein using 2 different legacy EVH systems before switching to Venapax.

Saphena: Your director made the executive decision to have the department switch to the Venapax system, how did that go?
Jason: Initially I really didn’t want to switch. I tend to become comfortable with something once I start using it. I had already switched from one EVH system to another and now a third? I’m like “I really don’t want to do this”. But once I saw how intuitive and efficient it was. I was more than happy to give it a try.

Saphena: You’ve gone through training on all three devices. How would you compare them?
Jason: The training on Venapax was great. The old devices I worked with didn’t seem to have the support. It was more on-the-job learning with my cohorts. With the Saphena team I was able to go to a lab, practice on the cadaver, and get a feel for it. Then Jose, our rep, would guide me and show me the most efficient way to work with the instrument. He gave me the confidence to do the things I thought I wasn’t ready to do at that time.

Jose: Jason did great. He was up and running in about 6 cases. He was open to learning something new and he was successful at it. One of the hardest parts of training for seasoned harvesters is getting used to taking branches as you go, which streamlines the process.

Saphena: Talk a little bit about the advantages you discovered with the Venapax system.
Jason: The cauterizing blades are a huge deal. By not having multiple devices to switch out makes Venapax a true unitary system. I’ve done thighs in a single pass without a problem. By the time I got up to the top, I was able to dissect and remove it. Plus, the vein is pristine, this system provides me with the best outcomes.

The other big plus for me was the smooth taper of the tip of the cone. In my opinion the other devices are sharper. I could easily poke a hole with the tip. With the smooth tip of Venapax this is not a problem and dissection is much easier.

Saphena: You mentioned experiencing improved conduit quality as well?
Jason: The quality of the samples has definitely improved. They come out every single time looking like quality conduit for the heart. It’s amazing.

And that’s just not my opinion. I have a surgeon that I work with who commented “you’re pulling out quality vein every single time, I want you to work with me I want you to stay with me”.

That acknowledgment made me feel really appreciated. It really builds your confidence.

Saphena: That’s great to hear, any final thoughts?
Jason: I am happy that we made the switch. I feel like Venapax has improved my harvesting ability and increased my level of confidence. My advice to other harvesters, if there’s anything that they are struggling with on their current system it’s worth investing your time and energy to research and learn this device because it works really, really, well.

Whether you are starting to learn on or considering switching over to Venapax, it really is a great device.