Table 2 Study characteristics of Daschner et al.
Septic operating theatre | Aseptic operating theatre | |
|---|---|---|
Objectives | To study the microbiology of air and floor samples obtained in an aseptic and septic operating theatre prior to (morning) and after completion of the daily surgical program (evening). | |
Sampling method | One day per week during 5 months, before first surgery and after last surgery. Floor: RODAC blood agar plates at nine different points around the operating table. Air: Approximately middle of the room (25 cm higher than operating table) using a “Reuter-Centrifugal-Sampler” with a suction volume of 80.94 l in 2 min. | |
Setting | Operating room, floor, gowning area for personnel only, washing room accessible through operating room only, all rooms except one for septic unit access were not closable/lockable, window ventilation | Clean air system, gowning area for patients and personnel |
Disinfection method | Unit floor: 0.5% aldehyde disinfectant every day before first surgery and after last surgery, operating room floor after every single surgery | Unit floor: 0.5% aldehyde disinfectant every day after last surgery, operating room floor after every single surgery |
No. of procedures | 183 | 130 |
Air samples, mean CFU/m3 (SD) | ||
Morning | 798.4 (552.4) | 774.0 (826.2) |
Evening | 424.8 (301.1) | 565.2 (521.0) |
Plate samples, mean CFU/16 cm2 | ||
Theatre, morning | 9.3 | 6.4 |
Theatre, evening | 31.5 | 8.4 |
Corridor, morning | 18.8 | 12.8 |
Corridor, evening | 14.8 | 18.3 |
Gowning area, morning | 32.7 | 28.5 |
Gowning area, evening | 53.4 | 56.1 |
SSI rate after 8 weeks | 10.9% | 3.0% |