Visual detection of electrocautery arcing

Methods and systems for detecting undesirable electrocautery arcing events during an electrocautery surgical procedure may include introducing an electrosurgical treatment instrument to a surgical site to perform an electrocautery surgical procedure. A healthcare provider may view the surgical site with a surgical camera assembly having a surgical field-of-view. The healthcare provider also may view a portion of the electrosurgical treatment instrument with an electrocautery arc detection system including an arc detection camera having an arc detection field-of-view different than the surgical field-of-view obtained by the surgical camera. The electrocautery arc detection system may identify thermal infrared emission or tissue color changes as indicators of undesirable electrocautery arcing. Some implementations alert a healthcare provider of undesirable electrocautery arcing.