Vascular thermocoagulation-perivascular nerve lesions. An ultrastructural report on the choice between monopolar and bipolar electrocoagulation.

High-frequency coagulation is used with advantage for a number of purposes, including the production of haemostasis during surgery. The morphological changes which thermocoagulation produces in or near the wall of an artery remain, however, largely unknown; and systematic research in the subject is long overdue. As might be expected from clinical experience, the local effects of monopolar thermocoagulation are much more severe and far-reaching than those caused by the bipolar method. For these reasons the bipolar coagulation technique is to be preferred wherever possible.