title: [Electrosurgical concepts in ENT medicine. History, fundamentals and practice].
abstract: The beneficial use of heat in the context of medical treatments was documented even in ancient times. The development of high-frequency alternating current generators led to actual electrosurgery, in which primary heating of the tissue takes place. In day-to-day clinical practice electrosurgery is used for coagulation and for electrotomies. There are both unipolar and bipolar techniques for these procedures. When a unipolar technique is used the active electrode is in the tip of the instrument and the patient plate is usually affixed to the patient's skin at a site outside the operating field. The bipolar technique differs in that there are no electrodes that need to be attached externally; both poles are contained inside the operating instrument, e.g. in the two prongs of a forceps. In radiofrequency surgery high-frequency electrical energy is applied directly into the tissue by a unipolar or bipolar technique. In this way it is possible to cause interstitial tissue lesions while sparing the superficial mucous membranes.
authors.affiliation: Universitäts-HNO-Klinik, Theodor-Kutzer-Ufer, 68167, Mannheim. gregor.bran@hno.ma.uni-heidelberg.de
authors.forename: G M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Bran
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Moch
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hörmann
authors.forename: B A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Stuck
mesh_terms: D004598:Electrosurgery / Q000266:history / Q000379:methods* / Q000639:trends*; D005858:Germany; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049674:History, 21st Century; D006801:Humans; D010036:Otolaryngology / Q000266:history / Q000379:methods* / Q000639:trends*; D013517:Otorhinolaryngologic Surgical Procedures / Q000266:history / Q000379:methods* / Q000639:trends*; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians' / Q000639:trends