Free Paper Sample on Surgical Smoke

Introduction

There is a need for medical staff on the importance and need to protect themselves from smoke inhalation when carrying out the operation. The majority of theatre staff do not take precautionary measures against surgical smoke even though they know its adverse effects (Liyu Y. et al. 2019). Most of them later complain of some health issues such as severe headaches, burning throat, or even coughs resulting from the smoke.

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Volatile Hydrocarbons

A variety of highly volatile hydrocarbons are always present in ultrasonic or diathermy, and laser derived smoke from surgical equipment. A team of a large academic center in medicine sought to investigate the exposure of medical staff to surgical smoke. They used one of the nursing processes in a bid to come up with a solution to the unavailability of a smoke-evacuator in the theater room (Dobbie, M. 2017). Presentations were provided to staff members as well as surgeons. Audits were later conducted, and analyses were made to monitor compliance.

Conclusion

There can be some potentially carcinogenic compounds in surgical smoke that can later cause some detrimental effects to the staff. Therefore, it is advisable for the theatre staff to put on all protective gear to prevent the inhalation of smoke from the operating room. Surgical masks alone are not adequate for protecting the medical staff from inhaling this smoke.

References

Tan, E., & Russell, K. (2017). Surgical plume and its implications: A review of the risk and barriers to a safe workplace. ACORN: Journal of Perioperative Nursing in Australia, 30(4).

Liu, Y., Song, Y., Hu, X., Yan, L., & Zhu, X. (2019). Awareness of surgical smoke hazards and enhancement of surgical smoke prevention among the gynecologists. Journal of Cancer, 10(12), 2788.

Dobbie, M. K., Fezza, M., Kent, M., Lu, J., Saraceni, M. L., & Titone, S. (2017). Operation clean air: implementing a surgical smoke evacuation program. Aorn Journal, 106(6), 502-512.