Minimum standards required for a laser treatment controlled area
Catalan Agency for Health Technology Assessment and Research
Record ID 31995000024
Catalan, English, Spanish
Authors' objectives:
To provide minimum standards of care for the safe use of lasers in health care facilities to prevent unnecessary exposure of professionals and patients to avoidable hazards associated with type III and IV lasers.
Authors' results and conclusions:
The utilization of lasers is associated with certain hazards (fire, chemical and biological hazards, tissue damage due to overexposure, etc.) that can affect both health professionals and patients. These hazards can be diminished through the adoption of adequate safety measures. In Europe, a general agreement on standards dealing with the manufacturing requirements (determining specifications for the safety of laser equipment and accessories) has been already established. This will allow the free circulation of laser equipment in different European countries. Nevertheless, due to different national legislation, the agreement on norms related to the installation and use of lasers in health care facilities was not possible. Each country is free to determine his own user's guidelines according to national requirements. This document deals with requirements regarding: personnel (eg: medical team with qualified knowledge and experience), physical structure (eg: operating room design), equipment, and organization (eg. laser safety committee). In this document there is also a brief introduction to the hazards associated with utilization of lasers and an overview of the different types of lasers used in medical practice and their stage of development.
Authors' recommendations:
It is likely that the use of laser technology will increase as new applications are introduced in medical practice (eg: minimally invasive therapy). When used with proper training and experience, laser surgery can be performed with a high degree of safety. Standards need to be established to assure a safe environment for both patients and personnel.
Authors' methods:
Review
Details
Project Status:
Completed
Year Published:
1993
English language abstract:
An English language summary is available
Publication Type:
Not Assigned
Country:
Spain
MeSH Terms
- Consumer Product Safety
- Equipment Safety
- Laser Therapy
- Lasers
- Reference Standards
- Safety
Contact
Organisation Name:
Agencia de Qualitat i Avaluacio Sanitries de Catalunya
Contact Address:
Antoni Parada, CAHTA, Roc Boronat, 81-95 (2nd floor), 08005 Barcelona, Spain, Tel. +34 935 513 928, Fax: +34 935 517 510
Contact Name:
direccio@aatrm.catsalut.net / aparada@aatrm.catsalut.net
Contact Email:
direccio@aatrm.catsalut.net / aparada@aatrm.catsalut.net
Copyright:
Catalan Agency for Health Technology Assessment and Research
This is a bibliographic record of a published health technology assessment from a member of INAHTA or other HTA producer. No evaluation of the quality of this assessment has been made for the HTA database.