A local scavenging system to remove waste anesthetic gases during general anesthesia.

Background: A local scavenging system was constructed and tested in both the operating room and the laboratory to remove the waste anesthetic gases so as to lower the exposure risk of the anesthetic personnel.

Methods: A local scavenging system was developed to suck away the waste anesthetic gases (e.g.

Personnel exposure to waste sevoflurane and nitrous oxide during general anesthesia with cuffed endotracheal tube.

Background: Waste anesthetic gases may have adverse effects on the health of operating room personnel. To reduce the risk of exposure, the United States National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (US-NIOSH) recommends a time-weighted average (TWA) of 25 ppm (part-per-million) for nitrous oxide (N2O) and a ceiling of 2 ppm for sevoflurane (SEV). This study investigated the concentrations of these two gases in the atmosphere of operating room to which the working personnel (anesthetists) were exposed during anesthetic practice.