5 4 S U P P L E M E N T T O O U T P A T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E O C T O B E R 2 0 1 6
It's not surprising that most surgeons get
the bulk of their education on the use and
abilities of electrosurgery equipment
from the manufacturers' representatives
who sold it to them. In the absence of a
unified set of professional guidelines on
surgical energy safety, the reps can pro-
vide a wealth of knowledge. But keep in
mind that they may have a sponsorship
bias that intentionally or unintentionally
mixes marketing into the educational
content.
That's why it's important to also seek out education offerings provided by pro-
fessional organizations. SAGES' FUSE Program (Fundamental Use of Surgical
Energy, fuseprogram.org) is primarily geared toward surgeons, but the rest of
your surgical team can also gain a lot from the practical knowledge the program
offers. The more surgical team members who are aware of the scenarios that can
trigger energy-based complications, the more who report adverse events to
spread the word on what can occur and the more who do their part to prevent
them from occurring, the safer your ORs will be.
— Thomas Robinson, MD, MS, FACS
• CLEAR CUT Amin Madani, MD, demonstrates the science of
electrosurgery in one of SAGES' FUSE sessions.
Amin
Madani,
MD
SURGICAL ENERGY SAFETY
SAGES' FUSE Program Focuses on
Electrosurgery's Fundamentals
