Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Nov 6:73:102976.
doi: 10.1016/j.amsu.2021.102976. eCollection 2022 Jan.

Forced air contamination risk in the OR

Victor R Lange  1
Affiliations

Forced air contamination risk in the OR

Victor R Lange. Ann Med Surg (Lond). .

Abstract

Introduction: Forced-air warming (FAW) is a commonly used method of patient warming to reduce perioperative hypothermia and minimize associated surgical complications.

Objectives: The primary objective of this study was to demonstrate even when properly managed, FAW units may contribute to greater environmental bacterial load and infection risk.

Methods: A study conducted in 2018 revealed that FAW contamination occurs more than expected in the surgical environment. The study demonstrated that 42.5 percent of the 320 samples collected were higher than the minimum accepted pathogen levels.

Results: The present study provided a retrospective-research correlation between samples collected in the 2018 analysis, along with evidence of any associated Surgical Site Infections (SSIs).

Conclusion: In a retrospective study of these cases, 3.4 percent of OB/GYN, 5.6 percent of colon cases, 1.4 percent of GI cases, and 5.3 percent of amputation cases developed an SSI. The results indicate that when FAW is in use, the risk for SSI is present.

Keywords: FAW; Forced-air-warming; Perioperative hypothermia; Surgical site infections (SSIs).

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The author declares no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Prevelent pathogens (percent, %).
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Samples by case (percent, %).
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Pathogens by case (percent, %).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. McDermott K.W., et al. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality; Rockville, MD: 2017. Overview of Operating Room Procedures during Inpatient Stays in U.S. Hospitals, 2014. HCUP Statistical Brief #233.https://www.hcup-us.ahrq.gov/reports/statbriefs/sb233-Operating-Room-Pro... Available from: - PubMed
    1. Magill S.S., et al. Changes in prevalence of health care-associated infection in U.S. Hospitals. N. Engl. J. Med. 2018;379(18):1732–1744. - PMC - PubMed
    1. CDC National and state healthcare-associated infections progress report. 2019. https://www.cdc.gov/hai/data/portal/progress-report.html available from:
    1. Awad S.S. Adherence to surgical care improvement project measures and postoperative surgical site infections. Surg. Infect. 2012;13(4):234–237. - PubMed
    1. Zimlichman E., et al. Health care-associated infections. A meta-analysis of costs and financial impact on the US health care system. JAMA Intern Med. 2013;173(22):2039–2046. - PubMed