Surgical Smoke Exposure in Urology - An Observational Study

Electrosurgery, lasers and ultrasound devices generate surgical smoke that is potentially harmful to operating room staff. No national data are available for French urologists.

to describe the symptoms reported by urologists during operating room work, and their knowledge and practices regarding protection against surgical smoke.

a cross-sectional survey using an electronic questionnaire (adapted from Gjini et al., without formal validation), sent in June 2026 to 1,408 French urologists, covering eleven symptoms, protective equipment used, awareness of recommendations, and risk perception.

180 urologists responded (response rate 12.78%; 72.9% men; median age 40-50 years; 45.8% in private practice). Among 172 respondents, 82.0% reported at least one symptom, mostly occasional: 23.3% reported at least one frequent symptom (often or always). Only 8.8% used a smoke evacuation system at the source; the surgical mask was almost universal (97.1%), versus 1.8% for FFP2/FFP3 respirators and 10.6% for protective goggles. Overall, 60.5% were unaware of any recommendation, 76.7% were concerned for their health, and 78.0% wanted further information.

urologists frequently report symptoms during operating room work, mostly occasional, which this design does not allow to be attributed to surgical smoke. Above all, this survey reveals insufficient knowledge of effective preventive measures and an almost exclusive reliance on surgical masks, which are unsuited to this hazard, at the expense of smoke evacuation at the source. Training and equipment of operating rooms should be strengthened.