Surgical Smoke-Do We Know Enough About It?

Surgical smoke is a dangerous by-product generated from the use of surgical energy based devices. Medical personnel have always been exposed to surgical smoke, most of them unknowingly and this has accounted for several health risks consequently. There is enough literature to back the claim of surgical smoke to be hazardous towards the patients and the medical personnel involved in patients’ care. The objective of this article is to assess the current awareness level among medical personnel regarding the hazards of surgical smoke, and what measures they take to minimize the risk of exposure. A total of 440 respondents, working in a operating room, between ages 22-55 years filled the questionnaire among which 300 (68.2%) work in public hospitals while 140 (31.8%) work under private setups. Although many of the respondents believed that surgical smoke was harmful, adequate measures were not taken to tackle this health hazard.