Reply re: "the efficacy of a midfacial seal drape in reducing oculofacial surgical field fire risk".

PURPOSE To evaluate the efficacy of a midface seal drape in eliminating fire risk oxygen concentrations from nasal cannulated oxygen delivery compared with a standard open oculofacial surgical field. METHODS Controlled experiment using the SimMan patient simulator and an oxygen detector. Oxygen concentrations were measured at 9 facial surgical locations with nasal cannula flow rates of 2, 4, and 6 l/min of 100% FiO2 in both the draped and undraped conditions. RESULTS The mean oxygen concentration in the oculofacial surgical field with the seal drape was 21.4% and 26.3% without (p = 0.0002; paired t test, 2-tailed). The draped condition provided safe oxygen concentration levels at all anatomical landmarks at all 3 flow rates, whereas the undraped condition was associated with suprathreshold oxygen concentration levels at 13 of 27 measurements. There was a direct correlation between oxygen flow rate and surgical field oxygen concentration in the undraped condition. CONCLUSIONS A midfacial seal drape reduced oxygen concentrations from nasal cannula oxygen in the oculofacial surgical field and may reduce fire risk.