Diathermy smoke: hazardous to health?

Abstract

The heat used in electro cautery causes cells to boil and explode or simply dry producing a gaseous by product known as diathermy smoke, this smoke may have mutagenic and carcinogenic potential similar to that of cigarette smoke. (Spearman et al 2007) A search of electronic databases was performed and selected articles were reviewed using the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP) tool to enable a review of relevant articles to be undertaken. The findings of the review were that 45 compounds were identified 9 of these were found to be hazardous when cross referenced against the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) list of approved workplace exposure limits and 4 were carcinogens;This research indicates that the use of an extraction device to remove smoke when using diathermy is best practice. However, until more conclusive evidence is available on the actual health risks of diathermy smoke as opposed to the potential health risks, it will be difficult for the organisations that govern health and safety at work to create legislation on the need to extract it from the operating theatre air.