ArticleJournal of anesthesia2026
Surgical smoke exposure to patients and to healthcare workers in the operating room: a quantitative assessment.
Article in Journal of anesthesia, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundSurgical smoke produced by the use of an electrosurgical unit may have a negative effect to patients and healthcare workers in the operating room, but studies on this problem are insufficient.
methodsIn 100 situations in which patients were undergoing four types of surgery under general anesthesia, the count of airborne particles (in 1.415 L) was measured using a particle counter to see possible differences at the patients and at the anesthesiologists, during different types of surgery, and at several locations.
resultsThe airborne particles during the use of an electrosurgical unit were significantly higher than before its use, both at the patient's head (median: 56/L vs 3,514/L; 95%CI for the median difference: 769-7,699/L) and at the anesthesiologist's position (230/L vs 6,907/L; 95%CI for the median difference: 2,945-13,196/L) (p < 0.0001). The airborne particles were significantly higher during cardiovascular surgery than during open abdominal surgery (median difference in increase: 8,439/L), significantly higher during open abdominal surgery than during head and neck surgery (2,654/L), and significantly higher during head and neck surgery than during laparoscopic surgery (1,442/L) (all p < 0.0001), and were high anywhere in the operating room and even outside the operating room door (always > 2,000/L).
conclusionsDuring the use of an electrosurgical unit, both the patients and healthcare workers are at increased risk of being exposed to high concentrations of airborne particles derived from surgical smoke.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.