What is a surgical smoke evacuator?
Smoke evacuators are devices that capture and filter the plume generated during electrosurgical procedures or laser procedures, thereby maintaining a safe environment for the surgical team and the patient. A smoke evacuation system should be appropriately selected depending on the need of the facility.
What is surgical smoke used for?
During surgical procedures, smoke is produced when energy generating devices such as lasers or electrosurgical units also known as cautery are used to stop bleeding or incise tissue. The energy generating devices raise the intracellular temperature to boiling (i.e., 100° C /212° F).
What causes surgical smoke?
Surgical smoke is the gaseous by-product produced when tissue is dissected or cauterized by heat generating devices such as lasers, electrosurgical units, ultrasonic devices, and high speed burrs, drills and saws. Among these devices, the most common sources are electrocautery ablation and laser ablation 12, 13.
What are the dangers of surgical plume?
Depending on its components, surgical smoke can increase the risk of acute and chronic pulmonary conditions, cause acute headaches; irritation and soreness of the eyes, nose and throat; dermatitis and colic. Transmission of infectious disease may occur if bacterial or viral fragments present in the smoke are inhaled.
Can HPV be aerosolized?
While HPV is highly contagious in direct skin to skin contact and thus the use of protective gloves is generally established amongst healthcare workers, it appears unclear whether infectious virus particles are mobilized from HPV-associated lesions into the ambient air during surgical manipulation.
What is the optimal distance to hold the smoke evacuator tip from the surgical site?
The suction nozzle should be as close as possible to the surgical site (per ANSI) and no further than 2 inches away (per CDC).
What chemicals are in surgical smoke?
Smoke produced by these devices contains mainly hydrocarbons, nitrile, fatty acids, and phenols. Among these, formaldehyde, acrolein, mixtures of benzene, xylene (BTEX), toluene, ethylbenzene, and polyaromatic hydrocarbons are of most concern.
What is the laser plume used for?
What is a surgical (laser) plume? Lasers, electrocautery devices, and similar equipment are used for surgery, ablation (removal of tissues), or cauterization to vaporize, coagulate, and cut tissue. The by-products of these procedures include vapours, smoke, and particulate debris, which are collectively called plume.
Why is surgical plume hazardous?
Surgical plume can contain a mixture of potentially hazardous components including ultra-fine particulates, bacteria, viruses, cellular debris, noxious and toxic aerosols, gases, vapours and fumes.
Is Airborne HPV real?
Airborne dispersal of low-risk and high-risk HPV DNA during ablation of HPV-associated lesions is well-documented, with matching HPV genotypes in surgical smoke and corresponding tissue treated with LEEP and CO2 laser (Kashima et al., 1991; Neumann et al., 2018; Sood et al., 1994; Weyandt et al., 2011).
Does HPV spread through air?
HPV is not spread by casual contact, such as hugging, shaking hands, sneezing or coughing. HPV is also not spread through air, food or water.
Is surgical smoke harmful?
How far must the CST hold the smoke evacuator from the laser tissue contact site?
The surgical technologist or surgical assistant must hold the plume/smoke evacuator wand less than 1 centimeter from the laser-tissue contact site to remove as much of the plume as possible.
What are the main hazards of laser plume?
Research studies have confirmed that this smoke plume can contain toxic gases and vapors such as benzene, hydrogen cyanide, and formaldehyde, bioaerosols, dead and live cellular material (including blood fragments), and viruses.
Is plume cancerous?
Ample evidence exists to suggest that inhalation of plumes is carcinogenic to humans, due to both the toxic metabolites and to underlying carcinogenic viruses that may be contained in the plume.