A clinical evaluation of an operational postanesthesia care unit source control system

Various air safety hazards in the PACU and a number of attempts to cope with the hazards have been addressed (see J Peri Anesth Nurs 11:207, 1996). This article presents a clinical evaluation of an operational source control system developed specifically for use in the PACU. The criterion for evaluation was the degree to which the source control system could reduce the concentration of waste anesthetic gases released into the environment by the patient. The N2O molecule is a thousand times smaller than droplet nuclei that carry infectious respiratory disease. Thus, containment of waste gases may also indicate containment of pathogens. Twenty-two postsurgical patients were studied. The control group was given routine care with supplemental oxygen by nasal prong. The experimental group was given supplemental oxygen and had exhalent scavenged via the source-control system. Waste gas concentrations were monitored, and a criterion was applied to the data to determine the effectiveness of the source control group when compared to nasal prong group. The nasal prong group exceeded the compliance criterion 58% of the time. The source control group exceeded the compliance criterion at no time during the study. From these results, the source control system is effective at reducing concentrations of waste anesthetic gases allowed into the atmosphere of a room. Application of the source control to the PACU environment could prove valuable in addressing air safety hazards.