Open AccessHigh Number of Door Openings Increases the Bacterial Load of the Operating Room
Author(s) -
Shan S. Lansing,
James P. Moley,
Mary S. McGrath,
Paul Stoodley,
Ajit M.W. Chaudhari,
Carmen E. Quatman
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
surgical infections
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.773
H-Index - 60
eISSN - 1557-8674
pISSN - 1096-2964
DOI - 10.1089/sur.2020.361
Subject(s) - medicine , mannitol , brain heart infusion , agar , bacterial colony , isolation (microbiology) , agar plate , infection control , colony forming unit , microbiology and biotechnology , bacteria , surgery , biology , biochemistry , genetics
Background: Operating room (OR) traffic and door openings have emerged as potential modifiable risk factors for the development of surgical site infections. Methods: This study compared the microbial load of a Control OR without traffic versus a Simulated OR with the traffic in a typical orthopedic surgery case. Air particle counts and colony forming units (CFUs) were measured. A novel iOS app was developed to provide real-time door counts. Results: There were 1,862 particles >5.0 mcm in the Simulated OR compared with 56 in the Control OR. The CFUs from plates in the Simulated OR ranged from 4-22 (on brain heart infusion [BHI] agar), 2-266 (on mannitol salt agar [MSA]), and 1-19 (on Pseudomonas isolation agar [PIA]), while all plates in the Control OR grew 0-1 CFUs. Conclusions: High number of door openings leads to more airborne bacteria in the OR and viable bacterial on OR surfaces. The increased bacterial load throughout the OR was independent of distance from the door.