Secondhand Smoke in the Operating Room? Precautionary Practices Lacking for Surgical Smoke

Details

• Journal Article:
  Am J Ind Med
• Personal Author:
  Steege, Andrea L. ; Boiano, James M. ; Sweeney, Marie H.
• Description:
  Background
  
  Consensus organizations, government bodies, and healthcare organization guidelines recommend that surgical smoke be evacuated at the source by local exhaust ventilation (LEV) (i.e., smoke evacuators or wall suctions with inline filters).
  
  Methods
  
  Data are from NIOSH’s Health and Safety Practices Survey of Healthcare Workers module on precautionary practices for surgical smoke.
  
  Results
  
  Four thousand five hundred thirty-three survey respondents reported exposure to surgical smoke: 4,500 during electrosurgery; 1,392 during laser surgery procedures. Respondents were mainly nurses (56%) and anesthesiologists (21%). Only 14% of those exposed during electrosurgery reported LEV was always used during these procedures, while 47% reported use during laser surgery. Those reporting LEV was always used were also more likely to report training and employer standard procedures addressing the hazards of surgical smoke. Few respondents reported use of respiratory protection.
  
  Conclusions
  
  Study findings can be used to raise awareness of the marginal use of exposure controls and impediments for their use.
• Subjects:
  • Electrosurgery
  • Female
  • Health Personnel
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Occupational Exposure
  • Occupational Health
  • Operating Rooms
  • Smoke
  More +
• Source:
  Am J Ind Med. 59(11):1020-1031.
• Pubmed ID:
  27282626
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC5069165
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Funding:
  CC999999/Intramural CDC HHS/United States
• Corporate as Subject:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.
• Place as Subject:
  United States
• Volume:
  59
• Issue:
  11
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/42204/cdc_42204_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 129.60 KB]
• Collection(s):
  CDC Public Access
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:dc3e5b39011ee0b78b628cb16e01880ae5a0079a84906d291f5b8480148a0937dc22a86dcd8a7362ff7f525d339c6dd065513ed13c365602cdd20975b29c7b34