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Effects of plume produced by the Nd:YAG laser and electrocautery on the respiratory system
B L Wenig1, K M Stenson, B M Wenig
1Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, University of Illinois College of Medicine, Chicago 60612.
Lasers in Surgery and Medicine
|January 1, 1993
Abstract:
Sprague-Dawley rats were exposed to Nd:YAG laser exhaust (contact and noncontact) as well as to electrocautery exhaust passed through smoke evacuation filters. Exposure periods for each group were equal and increasing in time. Histologic analysis revealed alveolar congestion and emphysematous changes in all modes. Controls exhibited similar change but to a milder degree. It appears that any plume produced by lasers or electrosurgical devices produces pathologic change in rat lungs and that effective smoke evacuation will help control these effects.