Abstract
Evidence-based guidelines for the management of surgical smoke and bioaerosols for perioperative nurses are necessary to improve the quality of care for patients and to ensure a safe environment in operating rooms. A survey of 377 operating room (OR) nurses throughout Thailand was used to assess the incidence of health problems related to surgical smoke exposure, as well as the current practices for these substances. A high percentage of OR nurses reported little or no use of smoke evacuation tools such as central smoke evacuation systems (100 per cent), portable smoke evacuation units (82 per cent), wall suction with inline filters (56.5 per cent) or laparoscopic evacuation/ filtration systems (63.7 per cent) during surgery. Most of the perioperative nurses suffered from headaches and/or sore throats. Due to the wide range of deleterious health issues that arise from exposure to surgical smoke, it is critical that perioperative nurses closely adhere to best practice guidelines for minimising this environmental hazard.
Highlights
IntroductionThe risk of inhaling surgical smoke and bio-aerosols has been linked to headaches, respiratory problems, eye and skin irritation, infection[1,2] and mutagenic and carcinogenic potential in patients, perioperative nurses, anesthesiologists and other operating room personnel[1,4,10,11,12]
The National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have studied electrosurgical smoke at length
Previous studies have implicated surgical smoke in Journal of Perioperative Nursing Volume 31 Number 1 Autumn 2018 acorn.org.au viral disease transmission human related to human papilloma virus (HPV), human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and hepatitis, and various carcinogens were reported from this exposure[1,11]
Summary
The risk of inhaling surgical smoke and bio-aerosols has been linked to headaches, respiratory problems, eye and skin irritation, infection[1,2] and mutagenic and carcinogenic potential in patients, perioperative nurses, anesthesiologists and other operating room personnel[1,4,10,11,12]. Previous studies have implicated surgical smoke in Journal of Perioperative Nursing Volume 31 Number 1 Autumn 2018 acorn.org.au viral disease transmission human related to human papilloma virus (HPV), human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and hepatitis, and various carcinogens were reported from this exposure[1,11]. The Association of periOperative Registered Nurses (AORN) serves as the practicing authority for reporting the hazards of surgical smoke and bio-aerosols and provides practice recommendations to control this workplace health threat. There are multiple AORN practice guidelines and position statements including:
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