Preventing adhesions--electrosurgery: advantages and disadvantages

Though electrosurgery has been with us for decades, few surgeons have received formal training in its potential uses. The erroneous belief that electrosurgery techniques increase scar formation or impair healing processes, has led surgeons to other methods to deliver energy to the living cell. At the cellular level, a watt, is a watt, is a watt -- knowing how to calculate and administer that energy is the challenge. Laser technology has forced the bioelectrical engineers to develop improved electrogenerators and accessories that are easier to understand and control. The use of digital reader boards, displayed in watts rather than an arbitrary dial setting is one example. A current flow meter for bipolar forceps will now tell the surgeon when all of the tissue has been desiccated. Soon I hope the power density and wattage delivered at the electrode tip will be easily displayed for the biogynecologic surgeons. Who knows, one day we may have a "laser-electrode" system to meet all of our needs.