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The Virtual Anaesthesia Textbook

Anaesthesia for Laser Surgery

Last modified 10/11/2017. Comments to: Chris Thompson

Contents:

  • General Laser information
  • Anaesthesia for Laser Surgery
  • Laser Safety


Introduction

For the basics of laser physics and optics, see Laser Fundamentals by Robert Aldrich, the How Stuff Works page titled How Lasers Work by Matthew Weschler, or the "Laser Adventure" by Rami Arieli.


Anaesthesia for Laser Surgery

You might like to start with John Loadsman's page on Laser Surgery and Anaesthesia.

Paediatric Anesthesia has a great article by Crispin Best on paediatric laser airway surgery.


Laser Safety

Definitely worth a look before you go blind - MHRA Guidance on the Safe User of Lasers! Here you'll find the 10 Golden Rules of laser safety, a list of 10 important "do's and don'ts" to bear in mind when working with lasers, and several Laser hazard data sheets listing specific risks associated with particular lasers.

Laser Safety and the Eye - Hidden Hazards and Practical Pearls by Osama Bader and Harvey Lui from the Lions Laser Skin Centre Division of Dermatology, Vancouver Hospital & Health Sciences Centre, and University of British Columbia is a superb paper on the specifics of eye safety. It covers absolutely everything (that I can think of anyway!).

The U.S. Army has several relevent laser safety pages as part of their Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine's Laser/Optical Radiation Program. The Air Force has a similar page but the Navy keep moving theirs so I won't link it anymore.

The U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration has a page on laser hazards with a very extensive list of laser safety related web resources. Well worth a look.

The following universities all have pages about laser safety...

Rockwell Laser Industries, Inc. sell eyewear and provide some laser safety resources.


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visitors to this chapter since April 29th 2000. Originally authored by:
Dr. John Loadsman
Department of Anaesthetics
Royal Prince Alfred Hospital
Camperdown, Australia, 2050
Fax +61 2 9519 2455
Telephone +61 2 9515 8564

Questions about the Virtual Anaesthesia Textbook project itself should be e-mailed to Chris Thompson.