• Marko Popovic, Jonathan Beathe, Ejiro Gbaje, Marla Sharp, and Stavros G Memtsoudis.
• Department of Anesthesiology, Critical Care & Pain Management, Hospital for Special Surgery, New York, New York, USA.
• Reg Anesth Pain Med. 2022 Jul 1; 47 (7): 426-429.

IntroductionSpontaneously breathing patients undergoing procedures under regional anesthesia can expose operating room personnel to infectious agents. The use of localized negative pressure within proximity of a patient's airway is expected to reduce the amount of bioaerosols dispersed particularly for anesthesia staff who are frequently near the patient's airway.MethodsIn the experiment, aerosols were produced using a polydisperse aerosol generator with nebulized saline. A portable negative pressure unit was set up at set distances of 10 cm and 30 cm with the aim of reducing aerosol particle counts detected by a laser-based particle counter.ResultsWithout the portable negative pressure unit, the median concentration of 0.5 µm aerosols detected was 3128 (1533, 22832) particles/ft3/min. With the portable negative pressure unit 10 cm and 30 cm from the site of aerosol emittance, the median concentration compared with background concentration was -0.5 (-8, 8) particles/ft3/min and 398 (89, 1749) particles/ft3/min, respectively.ConclusionsFor particle concentrations of 0.5 µm, 0.7 µm, and 1.0 µm a significant amount of aerosol reduction was observed (p<0.001). Further experiments are warranted to assess the safety of staff when encountering a potentially infectious patient in the operating room.© American Society of Regional Anesthesia & Pain Medicine 2022. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.

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