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. 2022 Feb 5;10(2):307.
doi: 10.3390/healthcare10020307.

Ten-Year Evaluation of Thermal Comfort in Operating Rooms

Giovanna Deiana  1   2 , Antonella Arghittu  1   2 , Marco Dettori  2   3 , Maria Grazia Deriu  2 , Alessandra Palmieri  2   3 , Antonio Azara  2   3 , Paolo Castiglia  2   3 , Maria Dolores Masia  3
Affiliations

Ten-Year Evaluation of Thermal Comfort in Operating Rooms

Giovanna Deiana et al. Healthcare (Basel). .

Abstract

The microclimate is a particularly important environmental aspect in operating rooms (ORs), where more than in other hospital environments, it is extremely important, and at the same time extremely difficult, to reconcile the needs of different types of occupants (patients and operators). Moreover, unsuitable microclimatic conditions may affect the onset of infection. The present study aimed to analyze the periodic monitoring of the microclimatic conditions carried out in ORs over 10 years, to verify the adequacy of the thermal comfort conditions for all occupants. The evaluation of thermal comfort was carried out using the Fanger indices and the standards required by current legislation and specific guidelines. Non-compliant values for at least one parameter were found in 98.8% of the examinations performed in the ORs. A condition of thermal discomfort was calculated for 3.6% of healthcare professionals and 98.3% of patients. The monitoring of microclimatic conditions is particularly important in the OR as an indicator of inadequate functioning of the air conditioning system, which might affect the thermal comfort of all occupants and lead to microbial contamination of the room.

Keywords: microclimate; operating rooms; thermal comfort.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Distribution of the values of air temperature (a,b), relative humidity (c,d), and airspeed (e,f) at rest (a,c,e) and in operation (b,d,f) in comparison with the reference values. Blue dot = compliant values; Red dot = non-compliant values.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Values and 95% confidence intervals of thermal comfort, acceptability and discomfort for operators (A) and patients (B).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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