Smoke-evacuating cautery pencils for dermatologic surgery

Potential health risks may exist related to particulates and volatile chemicals in electrosurgical smoke.1 Although particulate matter is effectively filtered by specialized masks such as N-95 masks, volatile chemicals are not.1 Standard surgical masks provide no protection. Further, handheld smoke evacuation with stand-alone units requires an assistant to carefully follow the motions of the surgeon while reliably holding the evacuation tube at the correct distance from the cautery tip (≤2 in)2 without compromising the visual field.

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