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Inhalation can cause acute and chronic inflammatory lung disease, contribute to carcinogenesis, and increase exposure risk to pathogens. Because commercially available smoke extractors are costly and require expensive maintenance and consumables, the article presents a simple, cost-effective surgeon-modified device and describes the assembly technique using commonly available materials.",{"@graph":69,"@context":122},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":35,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/healthcare/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/a-surgeon-modified-device-for-the-evacuation-of-diathermy-smoke-technique/408913/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/a-surgeon-modified-device-for-the-evacuation-of-diathermy-smoke-technique/408913.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Himbo","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-30","2026-09-28",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":44},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"Why is diathermy smoke considered a health hazard in the operating theatre?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"Diathermy smoke exposes theatre staff to smoke equivalent to 27–30 cigarettes per day and inhalation can lead to acute and chronic inflammatory lung conditions, carcinogenesis, and exposure to pathogens.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"What problem does the article’s surgeon-modified device aim to solve?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"Commercial smoke extractors are expensive and require dedicated consumables and maintenance. The technique offers an alternative using readily available equipment at low incidental cost.",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"How is the surgeon-modified smoke extraction device assembled?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"It uses suction tubing, a handheld diathermy pencil, and sterile adhesive tape. The connector is cut from the tubing, a longitudinal slit is made 2 cm from the cut end, the diathermy blade is fitted centrally, and the tube is secured with tape while ensuring it cannot touch the blade to prevent melting.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":124,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":126,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":128,"site_id":62},408913,1790795587,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":131},{"doc_id":128,"user_id":132,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":34,"category_name":35,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":44,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":14,"language":139,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":140,"faqs":141,"seo_title":142,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":143,"read_time":24,"preview_page_count":4},687197100911,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/avatar/a000239b6f1da00475?x-image-process=image/resize,m_fixed,w_180,h_180&k=1785132997149421697","TECHNICAL SECTION  \nA surgeon-modified device for the evacuation of diathermy smoke  \nOD Brown1,2, S Aroori1,2  \n1University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust, UK 2University of Plymouth, UK  \nCorrespondence to: Somaiah Aroori, [s.aroori@nhs.net](s.aroori@nhs.net)[ ](s.aroori@nhs.net)DOI: 10. 1308/rcsann.2024.0061  \nThis article reflects the opinions of the author(s) and should not be taken to represent the policy of the Royal College of Surgeons of England unless specifically stated.  \nBackground  \nDiathermy smoke is a recognised occupational hazard, exposing staff to smoke equivalent to between 27 and 30 cigarettes each day.1 Consequences of inhalation include acute and chronic inflammatory lung conditions, carcinogenesis and exposure to pathogens including human immunodeficiency virus.2 The Health and Safety Executive recommends that, “If exposure to diathermy emissions can’t be prevented then it should be adequately controlled… by Local Exhaust Ventilation”.3 Commercially available smoke extractors are expensive and costly to maintain. The units used in our hospital, for example, cost £2,040 and require perishable filters. Compatible, single-use diathermy pencils cost on average £16 .08.  \nWe describe an alternative, simple, cost-effective surgeon-modified device, developed by the senior author.  \nTechnique  \nThis technique requires one length of suction tubing (£0.47), a handheld diathermy pencil (£1.18) and sterile adhesive tape (£0 .30) . The connector is cut transversely from the suction tubing. A longitudinal slit is made 2cm from the cut end. The diathermy blade is pushed through the slit so that it sits centrally in the opening of the tube. The tube is secured opposite the buttons, using sterile tape (Figure 1) . Care is taken to ensure that the tube cannot touch the diathermy blade, to prevent it from melting.  \n\n| |\n| --- |\n| Figure 1 Steps involved in making the surgeon-modified smoke extraction device |\n\n68 Ann R Coll Surg Engl 2026; 108: 68–69  \nTechnical section  \nDiscussion  \nCommercially available smoke extractors are expensive and require dedicated consumables. Where they are unavailable, this potentially useful technique utilises readily available equipment atan incidental cost of £1 .95. For safety and efficiency, the theatre should operate two suction devices simultaneously. We have found that the bulk of the modification does not hinder the surgeon.  \nOpen Access This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits  \nunrestricted use, distribution, reproduction, and adaptation in any medium, provided the original work is properly attributed.  \nReferences  \n1. Hill DS, O’Neill JK, Powell RJ, Oliver DW. Surgical smoke – a health hazard in the operating theatre: a study to quantify exposure and a survey of the use of smoke extractor systems in UK plastic surgery units. JPlast ReconstrAesthet Surg 2012; 65: 911–916.  \n2. Alp E, Bijl D, Bleichrodt RP et al. Surgical smoke and infection control. J Hosp Infect 2006; 62: 1–5.  \n3. Health and Safety Executive. Diathermy and surgical smoke. September 2021 . [https://www.hse.gov.uk/healthservices/diathermy-emissions.htm](https://www.hse.gov.uk/healthservices/diathermy-emissions.htm) (cited May 2023) .  \nAnn R Coll Surg Engl 2026; 108: 68–69 69","cbCaiv9XQiFTGlSf","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaiv9XQiFTGlSf","pdf",171245,"English","# Background\n# Technique\n# Discussion","[{\"question\":\"Why is diathermy smoke considered a health hazard in the operating theatre?\",\"answer\":\"Diathermy smoke exposes theatre staff to smoke equivalent to 27–30 cigarettes per day and inhalation can lead to acute and chronic inflammatory lung conditions, carcinogenesis, and exposure to pathogens.\"},{\"question\":\"What problem does the article’s surgeon-modified device aim to solve?\",\"answer\":\"Commercial smoke extractors are expensive and require dedicated consumables and maintenance. The technique offers an alternative using readily available equipment at low incidental cost.\"},{\"question\":\"How is the surgeon-modified smoke extraction device assembled?\",\"answer\":\"It uses suction tubing, a handheld diathermy pencil, and sterile adhesive tape. The connector is cut from the tubing, a longitudinal slit is made 2 cm from the cut end, the diathermy blade is fitted centrally, and the tube is secured with tape while ensuring it cannot touch the blade to prevent melting.\"}]","A surgeon-modified device for the evacuation of diathermy smoke - Technique | PDF",1790580918]