ergonomics of the device — how easy it is to use without impacting
how they operate — and that it effectively evacuates smoke," she says.
Smoke evacuators were already on hand at Penn Presbyterian
Medical Center, so the trialing process involved renewing staff inter-
est in using the devices rather than finding the right fit. Still, Ms.
Muehlbronner hopes to conduct another trial that will let the team
find a product that better fits their clinical needs and preferences. "We
got a lot of feedback from surgeons, and one of the things they didn't
like was how bulky and loud the evacuator was," she says.
Ms. Prince heard similar feedback from her surgeons, who trialed 4
evacuators before deciding which ones they wanted to use. "Each sur-
geon filled out an evaluation form to rate the products," she explains.
"Whichever one they rated the highest was added to their preference
cards."
Her surgeons preferred the smallest, most lightweight electro-
surgery pencils with integrated evacuators that had the same feel as
the standard pencils they had been using and pushed back against
using noisy, bulky pencils that blocked visualization of the surgical
field. "It's important to give surgeons a choice," says Ms. Prince.
"Smoke evacuation efforts have to involve the end users to be suc-
cessful."
Local support
Ms. Muehlbronner is pleased, but not yet satisfied, with the progress
her team has made to eliminate surgical smoke. "Our next step is to
figure out how to increase use of smoke evacuators among most OR
teams," she says. "Reeducation is important for surgeons and staff. We
need to reinforce the importance of smoke evacuation each year."
Momentum is building to eliminate surgical smoke in facilities
across the country. "Lobbying efforts have given me hope that one day
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