BACKGROUND: Exposure to surgical smoke in the operation room has been a long-standing concern. Smoke generated by the interaction between lasers or electrocautery devices with biological tissue contains several toxic and carcinogenic substances, but only a few studies so far have provided quantitative data necessary for risk assessment.
METHODS: With laser and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, we investigated the chemical composition of smoke produced with a vessel-sealing device in an anoxic environment during laparoscopic surgery.
RESULTS: Harmless concentrations of methane (<34 ppm), ethane (<2 ppm), and ethylene (<10 ppm) were detected. Traces of carbon monoxide (<3.2 ppm) and of the anesthetic sevoflurane (<450 ppm) were also found. CONCLUSIONS. Gas leaking or gas being released from the pneumoperitoneum could therefore increase pollution by waste anesthetic gas in the operating room. Most toxic compounds found in earlier studies remained undetected. Adverse health effects for operating room personnel due to some of those substances (e.g., toluene, styrene, xylene) can be excluded, assuming no significant losses or changes in the chemical composition of the samples occurred between our sampling and measurements.