Cutaneous burns from a fiberoptic cable tip during arthroscopy of the knee

Inadvertent thermal injury following knee arthroscopic surgery in a pediatric patient

“…Inadvertent thermal injury in the operating room is rare but has been continuously reported. Although it is not associated with mortality, it can result in a permanent disfigurement of the patient [ 4 , 5 , 7 – 9 ]. Such injuries can also prolong morbidity and extend hospitalization, appreciably increasing medical costs to the patient and hospital.…”

“…Most of these complications are related to wound irrigation or radiofrequency thermal ablation [ 5 , 7 – 9 ]. Skin thermal injury from the direct fiber-optic light cable has been reported to be a risk [ 4 ].…”

Burning issues in laparoscopy

“…Mean temperatures at the distal end of the fibre‐optic cable from a 300‐W ‘cold’ light source have been found to be 190.6°C (±3.2°C) while the temperature at the end of the attached scope has been noted to be 41.9–95°C 1–4 . Human skin burns may be sustained at 44°C after 6 h exposure, but at 70°C in less than 1 s, and hence a significant risk of skin burns exists for patients in contact with a light cable.…”

“…Previously suggested avoidance strategies include ensuring that the light source is on standby whenever the telescope is detached or placing the cable/telescope in a kidney dish whenever not in use 1–3 . However, rather than relying on the avoidance of human error we advocate a more ‘fail‐safe’ mechanism to prevent these injuries.…”