Jason M Samuels, MD1, Heather Carmichael, MD1, Krzystof J Wikiel, MD2, Thomas N Robinson, MD, MS2, Teresa S Jones, MD2, Edward L Jones, MD2. 1University of Colorado, 2Denver Veterans Affairs Medical Center
This video explores the utilization of carbon dioxide delivery via a smoke evacuation pencil as an operating room (OR) fire mitigation strategy. OR fires are a catastrophic event that should be prevented with every reasonable measure. While seemingly rare, at least 650 OR fires occur annually with 2-3 patient deaths occurring each year. There has been an increase in the number of fires reported in the FDA’s Manufacturer and User Device Experience (MAUDE) database. This evidence led us to focus on practical OR fire prevention techniques. We tested fire creation using two surgical skin preparations – 70% isopropyl alcohol with 2% chlorhexidine gluconate (CHG-IPA) and 74% isopropyl alcohol with 0.7% iodine povacrylex (Iodine-IPA) with room air oxygen content (21%). Carbon dioxide delivery at a rate of 1L/min significantly reduced fire formation and completely eliminated fires when increased to 2L/min. Thus, low flow carbon dioxide is a highly effective method for preventing operating room fires.
Presented at the SAGES 2017 Annual Meeting in Houston, TX.
Abstract ID: 94285
Program Number: V014
Presentation Session: Hernia / Miscellaneous Potpourri
Presentation Type: Video