Smoke Evacuation

Electrosurgical smoke – a major issue, which many surgeons, nurses and branch organisations have been discussing for years. The main worries are the presence of airborne chemicals, viable bacteria, viruses and mutagenic substances. These bacteria and viruses pose a potential health risk for the staff in the operating room as documented in a number of reports and scientific papers. Other issues relating to the presence of surgical smoke are unpleasant odours and obstruction of the surgeons vision during the procedure. Many surgeons and nurses recognise the fact that surgical smoke irritate the eyes and create respiratory problems. Standard surgical masks do not protect sufficiently the operating room staff from the small particles emitted from surgical smoke. As a natural consequence, leading institutions and organisations, i.e. NIOSH; AORN and Sweden's National Board of Occupational Safety and Health strongly recommend the use of dedicated smoke evacuation units and filtering systems during electrosurgical and laser surgical procedures. LiNA Medical offers a complete Smoke Evacuation solution in order to remove smoke and odour from the operating room.