[Surgical smoke: risks and preventive measures].

The application of the advanced technologies in medicine has led to the appearance of new risk factors for health personnel. One of these could be the surgical smoke produced by electrosurgical instruments, ultrasounds or laser. However, there is still insufficient evidence in the published population studies on the detrimental effects of chronic exposure to surgical smoke. The main concern on the possible damage to the health of operating room staff is mainly based on the components currently detected until the date and laboratory experiments. Caution must also be used when extrapolating the results of in vitro studies to daily clinical practice. The organisations responsible for protecting the health of the workers in different countries have still not issued guidelines for the treatment and removal of the surgical smoke generated in both open and laparoscopic procedures. In this article we try to present a view of the consequences that surgical smoke has on health and the preventive measures that can be adopted.