How to avoid surface burns during electrosurgery.

Abstract

Electrosurgical burns are said to be the most common electrical hazards in operating rooms. Characteristic of all burns is that the user is not sufficiently familiar with electrosurgery, its power, and possible dangers. The simplest way to avoid burns is to educate those engaged in electrosurgery. There always will remain a risk that should lead to technical solution of the problem. From the physics of electrosurgery and heat production, it can be shown that a residual voltage across the neutral electrode plays a dominant role. To monitor this voltage and process it in an appropriate way will open new possibilities in avoiding burns.