Surgical smoke in laparoscopic surgery: Exposure risks and the role of at-source smoke control
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In the operating room, the development of electrosurgical units, lasers, and energy-based devices has yielded significant benefits regarding hemostasis, tissue dissection, and surgical efficiency. However, when thermal energy interacts with tissue, a nearly unavoidable byproduct is generated: surgical smoke (or surgical plume).
Surgical smoke is sometimes viewed merely as an issue concerning odor or visibility within the surgical field. In reality, numerous professional organizations and occupational safety agencies regard the management of surgical smoke as a matter of operating room environmental safety and occupational exposure. NIOSH has issued recommendations for controlling smoke from lasers and electrosurgical devices since 1996, and AORN continues to emphasize smoke capture and filtration at the source as a critical control measure