Results of a survey on current surgical smoke control practices.

Researchers at Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, conducted a simple, web-based survey of AORN members to evaluate surgical smoke control practices. Survey respondents from various medical specialties and facilities throughout North America indicated their facilities' level of compliance with established surgical smoke control measures. Survey results indicate that many facilities have not implemented best practices for protecting patients and health care workers from surgical smoke hazards, especially smoke created during electrosurgical, electrocautery, and diathermy procedures.