ing facilities to evacuate surgical smoke created during procedures.
And while the Occupational Safety and Health Association (OSHA)
notes that an estimated 500,000 workers, including surgeons, nurses,
anesthesiologists and surgical technologists, are exposed to laser or
electrosurgical smoke, they stop short of requiring surgical smoke
evacuators, instead simply noting that "employers should be aware of
this emerging problem."
Protecting the OR
But that's not good enough. I have been on a mission to warn my col-
leagues about these dangers. People who are using these electro-
cautery and laser devices need to understand that there is a potential
hazard that comes with it.
While the danger is great, there is a fairly simple solution: smoke
evacuation. For me, that means that whenever I'm performing a pro-
cedure that creates smoke, I will always use a surgical smoke evacua-
tion pencil that attaches to my electrocautery device and removes
smoke plume directly at the source. I want others to do the same.
Still, some hesitate to use the devices. A 2011 study from NIOSH
found that less than half of healthcare workers surveyed reported
using local exhaust ventilation during laser surgery and only 15%
reported local exhaust ventilation was used during electrosurgery
(osmag.net/H9guDG).
I remain optimistic. I believe that with more attention being paid to
the dangers of surgical smoke, more facilities are getting on board
with recommendations to use a smoke evacuator. There are several
new technologies available that are immensely better than the loud
and bulky evacuators of the past. The latest ones are smaller, easy to
use and less disruptive. The pencil I use is only a half-inch in diameter
and connects to my electrosurgical device to get rid of smoke at the
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