Risk for Surgical Team Hearing Loss With Vitrectomy

Area of Science:

• Ophthalmology
• Surgical Technology
• Occupational Health

Background:

• Vitrectomy surgery utilizes specialized equipment that emits sound.
• Understanding noise exposure is crucial for operating room (OR) staff safety and communication.
• Current occupational noise guidelines provide benchmarks for safe sound levels.

Purpose of the Study:

• To quantify sound-level exposure during vitrectomy procedures.
• To compare noise emissions from three common commercial vitrector systems.
• To evaluate the impact of machine settings on sound levels.

Main Methods:

• A noninterventional, cross-sectional study design was employed.
• Noise dosimeters measured sound exposure from Constellation, Stellaris, and EVA vitrector systems.
• Sound levels were recorded during vitrectomy, with varying cut rates, vacuum pressures, and auxiliary functions.

Main Results:

• Maximum recorded sound level was 88.2 dBA; mean levels ranged from 58.5 to 66.8 dBA.
• A strong positive linear correlation was observed between cut rate and sound level (r = 0.88–0.98).
• Vacuum pressure also showed a strong positive correlation with sound level (r = 0.83–0.97).

Conclusions:

• Vitrectomy noise exposure is within acceptable limits but may impact surgical team communication.
• Higher cut rates significantly increase noise exposure, posing a potential risk to hearing.
• Future attention is needed to manage noise levels as vitrector technology advances.