Tech in Surgery Prep / Unit 11 TSC 259 worked example, 60 to 90 seconds
The Electrosurgical Unit
The idea
An electrosurgical unit passes high-frequency alternating current through tissue to cut it or stop it bleeding with heat.
In practice
Learn the parts and modes in order. First, the unit has a generator and a handpiece, controlled by a switch on the handpiece or a foot pedal. Second, in monopolar mode, the active electrode is at the surgical site, and the current travels through the patient to a return electrode, the dispersive pad, placed elsewhere on the body. Third, in bipolar mode, the two tips of a forceps act as the active and return electrodes, so only the tissue between them is in the circuit and no pad is needed; bipolar works even in a wet field. Fourth, modern units have safety features that stop the current if the pad's contact with the skin becomes poor.
Where people slip
Electrosurgery is often wrongly called cautery. True cautery heats a wire with current that never enters the patient; electrosurgery puts the patient in the circuit, which is why pad placement and insulation matter so much.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
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