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Electrosurgery

More than 80 percent of all surgical procedures today involve electrosurgery, according to Bovie Medical Corporation’s Medical Insights Blog. This procedure involves the use of electrical currents to cut tissue.

Wed Feb 15 2012By Medical Dealer Magazine

More than 80 percent of all surgical procedures today involve electrosurgery, according to Bovie Medical Corporation’s Medical Insights Blog. This procedure involves the use of electrical currents to cut tissue. An electrosurgical system consists of a generator, an active electrode in the form of a cautery pencil or other instrument used to apply the electrical current, and a ground pad to safely return the current to the generator. Electrosurgery is routinely used in most forms of surgery, including general, dermatologic, thoracic, orthopaedic, urologic, neurosurgical, gynecological, laparoscopic, arthroscopic and other endoscopic procedures, according to Frost & Sullivan.

Among minimally invasive surgeries, laparoscopic hysterectomy has been the major driver of growth in the electrosurgical devices market. With increasing incidences of cervical cancer and uterine fibroids, the number of hysterectomy procedures are expected to increase, according to GlobalData’s “Electrosurgical Devices Pipeline Technology and Market Forecasts to 2015.”


In the future, cosmetic surgery will be the major growth driver for the electrosurgical devices market. Although, surgeons’ slow acceptance of electrosurgery devices will continue to be a challenge, the strong pipeline of technologically innovative and cost effective products will ensure the market grows at a steady pace. Electrosurgery has myriad advantages over traditional surgical procedures, namely less trauma, reduced bleeding, fewer complications, shorter surgical times, reduced risk of infection and faster recovery. In minimally invasive surgery, small incisions are made to access the operative field, which is often insufflated with gas to create space for surgical manipulation. Cameras, monitors and robotics are becoming more common for these procedures, according to Frost & Sullvan’s Medical Devices Outlook. Other emerging trends are focused on both cost efficiency and improved technology, according to Bovie’s Medical Insights Blog.

Bovie released a laparoscopic electrosurgical electric leakage detection device in October 2011. The device monitors electrical current from the electrosurgical generator and shuts down power when leakage occurs to minimize the risk of patient burn. The company has also developed a plasma stream, called J-Plasma technology, which uses an electrosurgical device that generates a plasma stream confined to a narrow beam. “Trends in electrosurgical procedures have enabled doctors to perform many surgeries that would have previously required the use of a traditional operating room to be performed in an Ambulatory Surgery Center or in a doctor's office,” according to the blog.

Originally published in the Feb. 2012 issue of Medical Dealer Magazine.

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