Surgical smoke nearly killed me (2 September 2018)

Summary

After years of inhaling surgical plume, orthopaedic surgeon Anthony Hedley,of the Hedley Orthopaedic Institute in Phoenix, Arizona, was diagnosed with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and underwent a life-saving double lung transplant.

You wouldn't want your surgeons to sit in the OR and smoke a pack-and-a-half of cigarettes while operating on their patients, but many are doing nearly the equivalent by creating surgical smoke and refusing to evacuate it.

Just over 3 years ago, at age 70, Anthony Hedley underwent a life-saving double lung transplant, something he believes was a result of a danger that is lurking in ORs across the country: surgical smoke, one of the largest unaddressed health hazards facing operating room staff today.