EBME Forums Forums Maintenance Technical Assistance Surgical smoke evacuator

Hi,
Our operating theatre is trying to equip every OT with one smoke evacuator. May I know if existing EVACUATOR wall outlet can be retrofit to function as one such equipment?
Wha t type of filter should be added to retrofit the EVAC outlet?
Thank you in advance!

Do you mean using (or adapting) the AGSS outlets to act as a plume evacuation system (PES)?

Well, I suppose it could be possible to engineer such a system ... but otherwise it's a "no" from me.

Indeed, ISO 16571 mentions:- "This International Standard seeks to ensure that plume generated in healthcare facilities is not evacuated through the medical vacuum or anaesthetic gas scavenging system".

In other words, PES needs its own equipment (eg:- smoke evacuators).

Yes Geoff - the volume of extracted 'gas' in an AGSS system is usually not that high enough to be a effective plume evacuation system - unless you up the flow rate a bit. And, then you have the contamination issues to deal with.

Yes; AGSS would typically be a continuous gentle low level of suction - whereas the PES could be a short sharp "pull", I should imagine. That is, different vacuum rates, and the PES operating on demand.

Then, as you allude to, different ways of dealing with the pollutants. I seem to recall that some (early) piped AGSS discharged to atmosphere "up on the roof".

In the "old days" my first hospitals AGSS system was vented to a pipe sticking up above the roof by a few meters - relying in the chimney effect to 'vent' the gas out.
Probably does not meet spec these days????

... although (probably) perfectly adequate from an engineering point of view!

The first attempt at AGSS that I saw (early 1980's) was simply familiar corrugated black rubber tubing from the anaesthesia machine to a spigot (at about 18'' FFL) on a stainless panel on the theatre wall which led directly into the HVAC exhaust duct. I'm not sure where the duct led ... possibly to atmosphere (as HEPA filtering would presumably have been on the inlet side into theatres). Probably OK (for that period), but I recall that the suction at the spigot was almost imperceptible. Rather like the idea mentioned (but for PES) in the original post!

Later we saw a few "passive" systems; filter cannisters hanging off the anaesthesia machines.