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Surgical plume in dermatology: an insidious and often overlooked hazard
Author(s) -
Searle T.,
Ali F. R.,
AlNiaimi F.
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
clinical and experimental dermatology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.587
H-Index - 78
eISSN - 1365-2230
pISSN - 0307-6938
DOI - 10.1111/ced.14350
Subject(s) - medicine , hazardous waste , covid-19 , health hazard , pandemic , hazard , occupational exposure , dermatology , intensive care medicine , surgery , environmental health , pathology , infectious disease (medical specialty) , disease , waste management , chemistry , organic chemistry , engineering
Dermatologists performing surgical procedures face occupational and health hazards when exposed to surgical plume released during electrosurgical and ablative laser procedures. These hazardous fumes have toxic, infectious and carcinogenic effects. Understanding this risk is of particular importance during the COVID‐19 pandemic as the understanding of the transmissibility and infectious nature of the virus is still evolving rapidly. In this article, we present the hazards from laser and surgical plumes, and discuss possible preventative measures aimed at reducing these risks.