Navarro MMC, González GJA, Castañeda GMA, Dávalos SE, Morín LLF, Mireles GP, Carmona NDE

Language: Spanish
References: 6
Page: 67-70
PDF size: 247.58 Kb.

ABSTRACT

Background: It is estimated that around 500,000 workers are exposed to cautery smoke each year in the United States. Exposed workers include: surgeons, anesthesiologists, nurses and technicians. Nowadays the contents of cautery smoke particles and their effects on the body are not fully understood. Current studies have focused on four important aspects for health personnel: chemical composition, viability of the virus, viable cells and nonviable particles.
Objective: To identify the surgical specialties with the greatest risk to cautery smoke exposure.
Participants and method: Samples of middle turbinate of 26 medical residents of non-surgical and surgical areas coursing the last year of each specialty who met the inclusion criteria were analyzed. Biopsy was taken of the middle turbinate through endoscopic view, placed in formalin as a fixative, and sent to histopathological analysis to describe the findings.
Results: We studied 26 physicians who met the inclusion criteria, the resident doctors of non-surgical areas were 12 residents and medical surgical areas were 14. The most common symptoms of cautery smoke exposure were burning throat: 11, foreign body sensation, 11, cough: 11, nausea: 7, sneezing: 5, shortness of breath: 2, eye irritation: 2 and dizziness: 1.
Conclusions: The surgical residents represent a group of risk of cautery smoke exposure compared with the group that has never been exposed. According to this study, traditional masks did not prevent the damage to the nasal mucosa. Severe histopathological changes occurred in the group of resident physicians with greater frequency and duration of exposure to cautery smoke.

REFERENCES

1. Scott E, Beswick A, Wakefield K. The hazards of diathermy plume. Br J Perioperative Nursing 2004;14(9):409-413.

2. Bigony L. Risk associated with exposure to surgical smoke plume: a review of the literature. AORN J 2007;86:1013-1020.

3. Garden JM, O’Banion MK, Bakus AD, Olson C. Viral diseases transmitted by laser-generated plume. Arch Dermatol Surg 2002;138:1303-1307.

4. Ball KA. Surgical smoke – Is it safe to breathe? Todays Surg Nurse 1996;18:16-21.

5. Walsh WE, Kern RC. Sinonasal anatomy, function and evaluation. In: Bailey BJ, editor. Head and Neck Surgery Otolaryngology. 4th ed. Lippincott-Williams & Wilkins; 2007:307-317.

6. Thomas L. No smoking in the OR. Outpt Surg Mag 2004:37-40.