title: Electricity inside the uterus.
abstract: Although electrosurgery has been employed for decades, few surgeons have received formal training in its proper use. The erroneous belief that electrosurgery techniques increase scar formation or impair healing processes led surgeons to use other methods to deliver energy to the living cell. At the cellular level, 1 watt is 1 watt. Knowing how to calculate and administer this amount of energy is the challenge. Laser technology fostered the development of 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 good electrosurgical system, with proper accessory electrodes, costs only 10% of the price of the average laser. For hysteroscopic resectoscopy procedures, a thorough knowledge and appreciation of the physics of electrosurgery is a basic requirement. In the future, I hope the power density and wattage delivered at the electrode tip will be displayed easily for surgeons using the resectoscope. One day, we may have a "laser-electrode" system to meet all our needs.
authors.affiliation: University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle 98122.
authors.forename: R M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Soderstrom
mesh_terms: D004560:Electricity; D004598:Electrosurgery; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015907:Hysteroscopy; D053685:Laser Therapy; D014599:Uterus / Q000601:surgery*