Premium
Secondhand smoke in the operating room? Precautionary practices lacking for surgical smoke
Author(s) -
Steege Andrea L.,
Boiano James M.,
Sweeney Marie H.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
american journal of industrial medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.7
H-Index - 104
eISSN - 1097-0274
pISSN - 0271-3586
DOI - 10.1002/ajim.22614
Subject(s) - medicine , smoke , secondhand smoke , environmental health , occupational exposure , medical emergency , waste management , engineering
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. Am. J. Ind. Med. 59:1020–1031, 2016. Published 2016. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA