Comparing Aerosol Generation in Human and Animal Tissues During Common Otolaryngology Procedures

To determine whether hamster and human tissues generate similar amounts of aerosolized particles using common otolaryngology surgical techniques.

Quantitative experimental research.

University research laboratory.

Drilling, electrocautery, and coblation were performed on human and hamster tissues. Particle size and concentration were measured during the surgical procedures using a scanning mobility particle sizer and an aerosol particle sizer (SMPS-APS) and GRIMM aerosol particle spectrometer.

SMPS-APS and GRIMM measurements detected at least 2-fold increases in aerosol concentrations compared to baseline during all procedures. Procedures performed on human and hamster tissues produced similar trends and order of magnitude of aerosol concentrations. Generally, hamster tissues produced higher aerosol concentrations compared to human tissues, and some of these differences were statistically significant. Mean particle sizes for all procedures were small (<200 nm), although statistically significant differences in particle size were identified between human and hamster tissues during coblation and drilling.

Aerosol-generating procedures performed on human and hamster tissue produce similar trends in aerosol particle concentrations and sizes, although we observed some differences between the 2 tissue types. Further studies should be performed to understand the clinical significance of these differences.