Surgical Smoke

We have just commissioned an additional smoke evacuation unit for our operating rooms. When electrosurgery is used to cauterise bleeding blood vessels during surgical procedures, a small amount of smoke plume is generated. This has traditionally been allowed to enter the rooms air until it is cleared by natural ventilation. The smoke plume has a characteristic smell, that can be unpleasant, but it has recently become known that this smoke can have a potential negative affect on human health especially with long term exposure. Despite this smoke evacuation systems remain uncommon especially during day surgical procedures. We have been using smoke evacuation equipment to remove and filter the smoke created by our electrosurgical equipment for nearly 3 years, and have just added an additional smoke evacuator to our operating rooms to ensure that both our patients and staff can receive their care in a comfortable and safe environment.