WOUND CONTAMINATION IN CONVENTIONALLY AIR-CONDITIONED OPERATING-ROOMS AS COMPARED TO LAMINAR-FLOW-OPERATING-ROOMS

  • 1 January 1978
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 167  (1-2) , 29-37
Abstract
Two operating rooms (OP K I, OP K II) with conventional air-conditioning are 1 operating room with horizontal laminar-flow-ventilation (TAVS) were compared by measurements of airborne microorganisms, settled microorganisms and wound contamination. In OP K I and OP K II the number of airborne colony forming units (cfu) was about 8/m3 when the rooms were empty and between 70/m3 (OP K I) and 140/m3 (OP K II) during operations. The initial air in the TAVS OP contained less than 1 cfu/m3; downstream of the operating team there were up to 80 cfu/m3. The number of settled microorganisms at the wound site was about 13 cfu/100 cm2 per h in OP K I and OP K II, and about 2 cfu/100 cm2 per h in the TAVS OP. Wound swabs showed a contamination rate of 45% (OP K I) and 54% (OP K II) vs. 31% under TAVS conditions. The difference was statistically significant (P < 0.05). Various other factors, e.g., the duration of exposure, traffic of persons in and out of the rooms and the fate of microorganisms after settling into the wound, are discussed. While the number of settling microbes increases in linear proportion to the duration of exposure, the number of wounds contaminated probably approaches a steady-state depending on the settling rate and die-off rate in the wound.

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