Surgical Smoke Potential Hazards

Surgical Smoke 

Potential Hazards

Surgical smoke and aerosols are potentially dangerous to both OR personnel and patients. The potential risks to OR personnel include pulmonary irritation and inflammation, transmission of infection and genotoxicity. The potential dangers to patients occur primarily during laparoscopic procedures where surgical smoke is concentrated in the peritoneal cavity. These potential dangers include CO toxicity, port-site metastases from cancer spread through aerosolised cells and toxicity to the peritoneal compartment and its contents. Intra peritoneal smoke also impairs visualisation of the surgical field. It is therefore necessary to recognise the evidence for these potential dangers and determine to what degree these potential dangers are a reality.