Surgical smoke: Impact on health professionals working in the operating room and examination of precautions taken

Abstract

Objective: To determine the effects of surgical smoke on health professionals working in the operating room and the protective precautions taken. Method: This descriptive study was conducted with 380 surgeons, nurses, and anesthesiologists/anesthesia technicians working in the operating rooms of seven training and research hospitals in Istanbul between February 18 and April 18, 2019. The data were obtained with a data collection form based on the literature to determine the individual and occupational characteristics of the participants, their exposure to surgical smoke, and the protective precautions taken. Descriptive statistical methods (number, percentage, mean, and standard deviation) and chi-square test were used to evaluate the data. Significance was accepted as p˂0.05. Results: The mean age of the participants was 31.41±8.03 (min.19-max.65) years, 51.8% were nurses, 24.7% were surgeons, and 23.5% were anesthesiologists/anesthesia technicians. It was determined that 95% of the participants were exposed to surgical smoke, and there was a significant difference between occupation, operating room, and duration of work in the operating room in terms of exposure to surgical smoke. It was determined that the participants experienced headaches at the highest rate (20.6%) due to inhalation of surgical smoke, and they mostly used surgical masks (90.2%) among the measures to protect themselves. Conclusion: The findings of the study showed that healthcare professionals working in the operating room were exposed to surgical smoke at high rates and experienced various symptoms related to it, and precautions for protection against surgical smoke in their units/institutions were inadequate. It is recommended that training and studies be conducted to raise awareness on the subject and to implement instructions/guidelines for protection from surgical smoke.