POWER SOURCES

As the scope and the goals of surgery expand, surgical instruments and techniques undergo progressive development. This is best exemplified in endoscopic surgery, which has created an ever-increasing demand for new instruments such as lasers of different wavelengths (CO2, argon, KTP, Nd:YAG) and new applications of high-frequency electrosurgery to vaporize, coagulate, ablate, and lyse adhesions or remove entire myoma ta. The technology has advanced rapidly and it is sometimes difficult to understand the different applications of the new instruments and ta ke full advantage of these developments. This article reviews the basi c principles of the power sources commonly used in gynecologic surgery and points out their clinical applications.