/_media/adv/web/images/2011/20111124_Arthrex_TB-378x82.jpg

Subscriptions

Advertising

Resources

About Us

Contact Us

Create An Account Forgot Your Password?
Trouble logging in or creating an account? click here
Home This Month E-Weekly Newsletter Building a Facility Article Archive Second Opinions
Search:
Benchmarking
General Surgery
Accrediting/Quality
Anesthesia
Code/Bill/Reimburse
Building/Renovating
/_media/adv/web/images/2012/20120322_Soma_LB-154x100.gif
/_media/adv/web/images/2012/20120430_ISI_LB-154x100.jpg
/_media/adv/web/images/2012/20120126_APIC_LB-154x100.jpg
/_media/adv/web/images/2012/20120426_PDI_LB-154x100.gif
Outpatient Surgery E-Weekly

Malpractice Verdicts Often Favor Physicians

Physicians come out on the winning end of 80% of malpractice claims that end in jury verdicts, according to researchers at Massachusetts General Hos...

Study: CT Colongraphy Effective in Finding Polyps

A CT-scan-based, laxative-free "virtual colonoscopy" may be as effective as standard colonoscopy in finding potentially cancerous polyps, according ...

Wrong-Site Prevention Video Shows the Right Way

Wrong-site, wrong-patient and wrong-procedure surgery must be prevented at all costs. The 3 steps of the Joint Commission's Universal Protocol make ...

Archive > June, 2011 Vol. XII, No. 6

New Ways to Cut and Seal: The Changing Face of Electrosurgery

Today's energy-driven devices cut and seal tissue with more precision and less thermal spread than the traditional Bovie.

Vangie Dennis, RN, CNOR, CMLSO

Your standard electrosurgical device, still called a "Bovie" by most of us after its inventor, William T. Bovie, MD, has been around since the late 1920s, and for decades the technology remained pretty static. It's really been only in the past 15 to 20 years that we've seen a radical shift toward energy-driven surgical devices that can cut and seal tissue with more precision and less thermal spread than the traditional electrosurgical unit (ESU). These newer, improved devices are becoming increasingly commonplace in the operating room, but it's important to remember that they're very different from the traditional ESU — and from each other. Even with all the advances we've made, electrosurgery is still potentially dangerous if not handled properly. Here's a review of how the new energy sources function and how to operate them safely.

Sign in to continue reading.
Email Address:
Password:
Categories: Not yet reviewed
Keywords:
Bovie; Buying; CMLSO Bipolar; CNOR, CMLSO Bipolar; Covidien's Ligasure; Created Equal One; Dan O'Connor; Dennis, BSN, RN, CNOR, CMLSO Bipolar; Devices Created Equal One; ESU; Electrosurgery Devices Created Equal One; Electrosurgery Pad; Endo-Surgery's Enseal; Enseal; Equal One; Ethicon Endo-Surgery's Enseal; Examples: Lateral; Forget It To; Here's; It To; It's; Ligasure; Limiting; MAC; Madison; O'Connor; Pad; Patients; Place; RN, CNOR, CMLSO Bipolar; Typically; Ultrasonic; Vangie Dennis, BSN, RN, CNOR, CMLSO Bipolar; action; activating; actual; addition; adhesive; advances; alternative; amount... show all keywords
Bovie; Buying; CMLSO Bipolar; CNOR, CMLSO Bipolar; Covidien's Ligasure; Created Equal One; Dan O'Connor; Dennis, BSN, RN, CNOR, CMLSO Bipolar; Devices Created Equal One; ESU; Electrosurgery Devices Created Equal One; Electrosurgery Pad; Endo-Surgery's Enseal; Enseal; Equal One; Ethicon Endo-Surgery's Enseal; Examples: Lateral; Forget It To; Here's; It To; It's; Ligasure; Limiting; MAC; Madison; O'Connor; Pad; Patients; Place; RN, CNOR, CMLSO Bipolar; Typically; Ultrasonic; Vangie Dennis, BSN, RN, CNOR, CMLSO Bipolar; action; activating; actual; addition; adhesive; advances; alternative; amount; anesthesia; applications; applied; area; aren't; argon; authoritative; benefit; big; biggest; bipolar; bites; blade; body; bring; called; capacitive; carries; category; cavatational; challenging; circuit; clamp; clean; clear; clinical; clinician; coagulate; coagulates; coagulating; coagulation; cold; combination; commonplace; competency; complete; completely; complications; component; compression; concentrating; configuration; confusing; confusion; consists; contact; control; converted; create; creating; current; cut; cuts; cutting; cycle; dangerous; decades; decrease; deep; define; delivered; delivering; delivery; depends; depth; desiccated; destruction; determine; device; devices; diameter; difference; discontinue; dissection; distributes; distribution; diversity; doesn't; don't; drapes; dry; dual; duty; education; educational; effect; effectively; effects; efforts; electrical; electronic; electrosurgery; electrosurgical; emit; emitted; end; endure; energy; energy-driven; equipment; evaluating; evenly; extraneous; extremity; facility; faster; features; fires; fits; flow; force; forget; frequency; full-body; fully; fun; function; gas; generate; generator; grasp; great; grip; grounding; growing; handle; handpieces; hassle; heat; helps; high; hip; hire; hold; holding; holster; hook; ideal; ignoring; impact; important; improved; in-service; inadvertent; include; incorporated; increasingly; individual; inside; instrument; instruments; interference; involve; issues; it's; jaw; kinetic; knee; laparoscopic; lasts; late; lateral; layer; length; level; lies; liver; local; long; lot; low; lumping; lying; make; manager; marketed; mastectomies; matter; means; member; metal; millimeter; mistakes; money; monopolar; multiple; newcomers; newer; nicknames; nurses; nursing; one-time; open; operate; operating; oxygen; pacemakers; pad; page; past; patient; patient's; patients; penetration; personnel; placing; plasma; plastic; plates; plating; potential; potentially; precision; preferable; prep; pressure; pretty; prevent; procedures; process; processes; produce; proprietary; protect; protective; purchasing; quickly; radical; radiofrequency; rapid; receive; receiving; recent; reduce; reducing; referred; related; releases; remained; remains; remember; rep; repeat; reps; require; respected; respond; result; reusable; review; risk; round; safe; safety; sales; save; scalpels; seal; sealing; seals; serve; set; shaped; sheath; shift; similar; size; smaller; smoke; so-called; soft-tissue; solution; source; sources; spare; specific; specifications; speed; spread; staff; standard; steps; sticky; stray; surgeons; surgery; surgical; surrounding; susceptible; switch; table; team; techniques; technology; tension; that's; thermal; they're; thickness; thin; thousand; time; times; tip; tissue; tonsillectomies; toolbox; touching; traditional; training; travel; type; typically; ultrasonic; uneven; unintentional; unique; unit; vaporization; vendor; vessel; vibrations; voltage; wand; water; waveform; we've; weighs; won't; work; working; works; worry; yearly; years; you'll; you're; —; “Bovie”; “Thinking; “jaw”; “universal”; …

© Copyright Herrin Publishing Partners LP. REPRODUCTION OF THIS COPYRIGHTED CONTENT IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED. We encourage LINKING to this content; view our linking policy here.

PRODUCT & SERVICE RESOURCES
Did You See This?
A showcase of products and services geared to make your facility better.

Architects' Showcase
Is a beautiful, efficient new facility in your future?
/_media/adv/web/images/2012/20120426_ChristieMedical_AR-300x250.jpg
Other Articles That May Interest You
Staffing
10 Ways You Can Become a Better Leader
Staffing
8 Things Your Staff Hates About You
Ideas That Work
Track patients from door to door