All Rhode Island hospitals and ASCs must develop and implement surgical smoke evacuation policies and report them to the state's department of health within 90 days of Jan. 1, 2019, but not everyone is pleased about the policy, OR Management News reports.
Here's what you should know:
1. After members of the Association of periOperative Registered Nurses and the American Nurses Association Rhode Island lobbied state legislators, Rhode Island became the first state to make surgical smoke evacuation systems a requirement for hospitals and ASCs in June.
2. The organizations' members argued surgical smoke exposure can cause respiratory irritation or put staff at risk of acquiring HPV, and that smoke can lead to increased recovery time in the PACU for patients undergoing laparoscopic procedures.
"Those policies really outline the fact that they have to evacuate surgical smoke during every surgical procedure," said Danielle Glover, AORN Governmental Affairs' associate director.
3. In contrast, Charles A. Adams Jr., MD, said the policy is a "somewhat reactionary" overreach. Dr. Adams is Providence-based Rhode Island Hospital's trauma and surgical critical care division chief and the Rhode Island Medical Society board's vice president.
4. Dr. Adams said the law doesn't consider added costs and the learning curve for surgeons adjusting to evacuation systems. He also said it's unreasonable to require use of the systems for every procedure, as several variables can change the amount and composition of smoke generated.
5. Before the legislation passed, Dr. Adams was working with colleagues to identify which cases warranted smoke evacuation and petition for selective use of systems for those procedures.
"As professionals, it makes a lot of sense for us to self-regulate. Occasionally when we fail to do so, the regulatory bodies step into that vacuum and we may not be happy with the results. To me, that's an argument that you should be invested in professional aspects of your career; as surgeons, we need to be more active not only as advocates for our patients but for the profession of surgery and our professional standards," Dr. Adams said.