that way?
Not if Dr. Hedley can help it.
Lucky to be alive, let alone back to reconstructing hips and knees at the
Phoenix, Ariz.-based Hedley Orthopaedic Institute, Dr. Hedley is on a cru-
sade to encourage surgeons who use electrocautery to use a smoke evacu-
ating pencil. "It could save your life," he says.
Help could be coming in the form of smoke evacuation legislation out of
California, which would become the first U.S. state to make surgical
smoke evacuation mandatory. Assembly Bill 402 would require California
healthcare facilities to use "plume-scavenging systems" in any setting in
which a surgeon's use of an electrocautery device or any other electrosur-
gical device creates surgical smoke. The bill would also require manufac-
turers of smoke-evacuation systems to provide evidence that their systems
meet specified minimum requirements when installed, operated and main-
tained as instructed.
California lawmakers attempted to pass similar legislation last year, but
Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed it. It is hoped that if California passes a law that
makes smoke evacuation mandatory, other states will follow suit.
Until that time, Dr. Hedley urges you take it upon yourself to protect
your surgeons, staff and patients by adopting technology that eliminates
surgical smoke. Smoke evacuation pencils with built-in or clip-on suction
tips that remove smoke and particles at the source are a simple and inex-
pensive way to bring smoke evacuation capabilities to your ORs, he says.
"The advent of these evacuation tips is a very solid thing. I think we need
to spread the word," says Dr. Hedley. "The only downside is they're a little
more cumbersome to handle than a standard Bovie. The suction tip comes
with a tube attached the makes it a little unwieldy. Just persevere and get
used to it. Accept a little bit of inconvenience for the sake of everyone else
in the OR."
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