is in direct contact
with the target tissue.
Finally, they should
use only short bursts
of activation whenev-
er possible.
Continuing
education
Although electrosurgical failures are rare, when they do occur, they
are truly devastating to everyone involved — surgeons, facilities and,
above all, patients. Surgeons often don't know what they don't know.
They often think they have a solid understanding of surgical energy
simply because they use electrosurgery devices on a daily basis, but
unless they have a more formalized training on the subject, they're
likely to have knowledge gaps that they don't even realize they have.
Take the steps to educate yourself and your surgeons about how sur-
gical energy works and what can be done to ensure it's used safely.
OSM
8 0 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 9
For information about
electrosurgery safety,
check out the
Fundamental Use of
Surgical Energy (FUSE)
program (fuseprogram.org) offered by
the Society of American Gastrointestinal
and Endoscopic Surgeons.
On the web
Dr. Khaitan (leena.khaitan@UHhospitals.org) is the director of bariatric sur-
gery at University Hospitals Cleveland (Ohio) Medical Center.