ABSTRACT
Because of the significant morbidity associated with traditional surgical interventions for snoring and sleep disordered breathing, minimally invasive methods of tissue reduction have received a great deal of attention. Many of these tissue reduction techniques utilize radiofrequency (RF) energy for ablation, relying upon heat to destroy tissue. Coblation is short for ‘‘cold ablation,’’ and uses an ionized plasma field as a surgical tool with unique characteristics. In otolaryngology, coblation has been primarily used for subtotal tonsillar reduction and total tonsillectomy.
