Respiratory symptoms associated with electrocautery smoke: a systematic literature review

Abstract

The smoke produced by the use of electro cauterization is formed by gaseous chemical compounds (gaseous phase) and by particle components (particulate phase) that can trigger harmful, local or systemic, reversible or irreversible effects in people who use this equipment. These chemicals can trigger genetic mutations and cancer in the human body. In addition to mutation and cancer, particles in the smoke of electro-cauterization can be inhaled and retained in the respiratory tract of workers, causing various respiratory signs and symptoms, including foreign body sensation in the throat, pharyngeal burning, nausea, and nasal congestion. It can also cause headache and eye irritation. Objective: To identify studies related to the presence of respiratory symptoms in health professionals related to the use of electrocautery. Methodology: A bibliographic search was carried out in the databases and indexes: Pubmed, Science Direct, Scopus, Proquest, Scielo, Schoolar Google. Original articles published between 2015-2020 were selected. For the extraction and synthesis of the content of the articles included, an Excel sheet was designed with the following variables: authors, title, year of publication, country and scientific journal; study objective, materials and methods, population and sampling, reported results. Results: A total of 121 articles were retrieved, of these 94 were excluded from the subsequent analysis due to the lack of appropriate data, the remaining 27 full-text studies met the inclusion and exclusion criteria set out in the study, which were included in the review. It was possible to establish that there are risks when inhaling electrocautery smoke that can trigger chronic respiratory pathologies such as lung cancer