Intraoperative Electrosurgical Smoke During Outpatient Surgery: A Survey of Dermatologic Surgeon and Staff Preferences

摘要

Electrosurgery generates smoke that may be harmful. We created a survey to evaluate perceptions of electrosurgical smoke and how information on the harm it potentially causes changes these perceptions. We distributed the survey to the membership of the American College of Mohs Surgery and the American Society for Dermatologic Surgery and received 437 useable responses. Results indicated that many dermatologic surgeons were aware of and bothered by surgical smoke, and these reactions were more prevalent after being educated on the potential hazards of electrosurgical smoke.