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Show KEEPING HEALTHY 'Electric Knife' Surgery 6 Dr. James W. Barfon WHILE many of us know about ! removing tonsils by electro-surgery, electro-surgery, we may not know that this method, the "electric knife" as it is called, also Is used for other operations. op-erations. (The method electro-coagulation involves using a high frequency fre-quency current instead of a knife and scissors; it destroys the tissues tis-sues by removing all their fluids.) When and why is this "electric "elec-tric knife" method used? In "Clinical Medicine," Dr. Gus-tavus Gus-tavus M. Blech, Chicago, states that the principal reasons for use of this method, now an absolute necessity In nerve and brain surgery, are (1) tissues are divided with a least amount of injury; all cells, dangerous danger-ous and not dangerous, are destroyed de-stroyed by coagulation; (2) small blood vessels are sealed or closed by this method, preventing further bleeding and the need for gauze sponging, which irritates the surface tissue when the surgical knife is used; (3) pain following the operation opera-tion is slight because of the blunting blunt-ing of the ends of nerves. The electro-coagulation method meth-od removes all malignant cells (dangerous, such as cancer cells or suspected malignant structures) to avoid carrying malignant cells into the system, thus reducing chances of starting a growth (cancer) In other parts of the body. The next Important use for coagulation coag-ulation is in hemophilia (where the blood will not clot) and in operations opera-tions on organs which are very rich in blood and blood vessels, such as the liver and spleen. Also, it is valuable in an emergency when the patient is anemic, run-down or elderly. el-derly. Of course, in cases of plastic surgery, surgery by the usual method the knife should be used because only tiny scars are left, whereas scars made by electro-coagulation are large and slow in disappearing. The type of anesthetic used is local, lo-cal, spinal or Into the veins, to prevent pre-vent any chance of an explosion occurring. |