Decreasing contamination of the anesthesia environment

• Published in: American journal of infection control Vol. 42; no. 11; pp. 1223 - 1225
• Main Authors: Clark, Cantwell, MD, MS, Taenzer, Andreas, MD, MS, Charette, Kristin, MA, Whitty, Michaela, BS
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, NY Elsevier Inc 01.11.2014; Elsevier; Mosby-Year Book, Inc
• Subjects: Anesthesia; Anesthesia - methods; Anesthesia environment; Anesthesia. Intensive care medicine. Transfusions. Cell therapy and gene therapy; Antibiotics; Behavior Therapy; Biological and medical sciences; Contamination; Environmental Microbiology; Epidemiology. Vaccinations; General anesthesia. Technics. Complications. Neuromuscular blocking. Premedication. Surgical preparation. Sedation; General aspects; Human infectious diseases. Experimental studies and models; Humans; Infection Control; Infection Control - methods; Infectious Disease; Infectious diseases; Intervention; Medical personnel; Medical sciences; Nosocomial infections; Surgical site infection; United States > US; Surgical site infection; Anesthesia environment; Contamination; Prevention; Surgical wound; Nosocomial infection; Check; Anesthesia; Environment
• ISSN: 0196-6553; 1527-3296
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ajic.2014.07.016

Until recently, anesthetists have focused on antibiotic administration and normothermia but have paid less attention to contamination in the anesthesia environment and its impact on surgical site infections. We implemented a simple intervention and tested its effect on anesthetic environment contamination between procedure start and finish. Of the baseline cases, 46% reached a critical predefined threshold of contamination compared with 12% of the intervention cases. A small behavioral change dramatically lowered contamination in the anesthesia environment.