Secondhand smoke in the operating room? Precautionary practices lacking for surgical smoke
Andrea L Steege1, James M Boiano2, Marie H Sweeney2
1Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluations and Field Studies, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Cincinnati, Ohio. asteege@cdc.gov.
American Journal of Industrial Medicine
|June 11, 2016
Summary
Surgical smoke evacuation using local exhaust ventilation (LEV) is recommended but rarely used during electrosurgery. Consistent LEV use correlates with better training and safety procedures for healthcare workers.
Area of Science:
- Occupational Health
- Healthcare Safety
- Surgical Practices
Background:
- Surgical smoke poses health risks to operating room personnel.
- Guidelines recommend local exhaust ventilation (LEV) for surgical smoke management.
- LEV includes smoke evacuators or wall suction with inline filters.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess the utilization of local exhaust ventilation (LEV) for surgical smoke.
- To identify barriers to LEV implementation in healthcare settings.
- To evaluate the association between LEV use, training, and safety protocols.
Main Methods:
- Data collected from NIOSH's Health and Safety Practices Survey of Healthcare Workers.
- Survey focused on precautionary practices for surgical smoke.
- Analyzed responses from 4,533 healthcare workers reporting surgical smoke exposure.
Main Results:
- Only 14% of electrosurgery cases and 47% of laser surgery cases consistently used LEV.
- Nurses and anesthesiologists were the primary respondents.
- Consistent LEV use was linked to better training and employer-provided safety procedures.
Conclusions:
- Local exhaust ventilation (LEV) for surgical smoke is underutilized, particularly during electrosurgery.
- Awareness of exposure controls and their implementation challenges needs to be raised.
- Further efforts are needed to improve adherence to recommended surgical smoke evacuation practices.
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