Assessment of the Effectiveness of Local Exhaust Devices in Removing Surgical Smoke

The extensive application of electrosurgical devices enhances surgical efficiency while generating considerable surgical smoke, posing health hazards to medical staff and patients. Current local exhaust systems show limited performance in mitigating operating room smoke pollution. This study employed simulation methods to investigate the influence of exhaust velocity and the position of the suction port on the removal efficiency of surgical smoke. Results showed that increasing exhaust velocity improved exhaust volume and significantly reduced indoor particle concentrations. With a specific exhaust system, at an exhaust velocity of 5 m/s, an exhaust efficiency as high as 99.64% was achieved. The concentration can be reduced to 1.173 × 10 7 particles/m 3 , whereas the concentration in the breathing zone can be minimised to 4.492 × 10 6 particles/m 3 . This concentration is significantly lower than the concentration of 10 9 particles/m 3 observed without exhaust devices, thereby effectively reducing the exposure risk for medical staff. Increasing the horizontal or vertical distance between the suction port and the incision significantly decreased exhaust efficiency. The relative position must be strictly controlled (within 2 cm horizontally and vertically) to ensure effective smoke removal. In addition, both the increase in suction port diameter and the adoption of the bell-mouth configuration may deteriorate the smoke removal efficiency.