Surgical smoke is a by-product of aerosol produced by electrosurgical equipment, laser and other energy equipments when cuting tissue or coagulating blood vessels. It contains non-active particles, organic chemicals, pathogens, viable cells and so on. The characteristics of surgical smoke components produced by different types of tissues or using different kinds of energy devices are different. For example, the average diameter of smoke particles produced by electrocautery is smaller, the possibility of viable cells and pathogens in surgical smoke produced by ultrasonic knife is higher. According to the characteristics of its composition, surgical smoke may be an imporant risk factor to the health and safety of operating room staff and patients. The use of surgical masks, suction devices and portable smoke evacuation systems can reduce the risk to some extent. But the most operating room staff don′t take corresponding measures to protect them. In this paper, the characteristics of surgical smoke and the research progress of protective measures will be briefly reviewed.