Tech in Surgery Prep / Unit 8 TSC 187 worked example, 60 to 90 seconds
Surgical Smoke
The idea
Surgical smoke is produced when lasers, electrosurgical units and similar devices destroy tissue with heat.
In practice
Learn what it contains and does. First, it carries toxic gases, similar to other smoke, such as carbon monoxide. Second, it carries particles, including dead and live cellular material and possibly viruses. Third, short-term exposure can irritate the eyes and upper airway and make it hard to see the field. Fourth, its contents have shown mutagenic and carcinogenic potential in laboratory studies. Fifth, staff who breathe it every working day carry the greatest risk; the textbook lists headaches, eye watering, airway irritation, nausea and dizziness among the effects.
Where people slip
Patients are exposed briefly; the team is exposed for a career. That difference is why smoke evacuation is treated as a staff safety measure as well as a courtesy to the surgeon's view.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
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