Assessment of the Various Sterilization Parameters in Ophthalmic Operating Rooms: A Microbiological Study

Abstract

Background: Hospital indoor air consists of a diverse and wide range of micro-organism. Since time the concept of sterilization of rooms was introduced by Lister, it has been a topic of worry regarding the sterilization of operation theatres. In view of this, we carried a microbiological surveillance of the overall efficiency of various disinfection methods of instrument sterilization in a health care centre where ophthalmic surgeries were carried out. Materials & Methods:The present study was carried out among patients that underwent various major and minor ophthalmic surgical procedures. In all the three operating room, sampling was conducted 184 times in each room. Before the starting of the next surgical procedure, sealing of the room was done before 12 -14 hours of the surgery. Weekly assessment of Environmental Bacteria Carrying Particle (BCP) load was done by sedimentation method prior to the commencement of the surgeries. In the surgical operating room, swabs were collected from the surfaces of the representative areas. Once in every two months, the evaluation of the contamination was done. Results: In all the three operating room, sampling was conducted 184 times in each room. 8 sampling procedures in room 3 exhibited the highest bacterial count among the three rooms followed by 4 and 6 in room 1 and room 2 respectively. S. aureus was detected in 4 and 6 procedural cases in room 2

Survey of the Bacterial Contamination in the Environment of the Operating Theaters over Two Years’ Time in a Multi-specialty ALYarmouk Teaching Hospital in Baghdad/Iraq

“…The microorganisms, chiefly bacteria which colonies human skin, and constantly shedding from the skin to the operating theatre environment (4) , could be a source of surgical wound infection (5) , and the in low, middle and high income countries, there has been report of high rates and risks of surgical site infection (SSI), as a result of high density airborne bacteria, with high financial costs (6) (7) In the same context, the greatest number of bacteria in an operating room originates from the endogenous source (patient's flora) (8) (9) and occasionally from an exogenous source, such as medical personnel activities, all tools, instruments, and materials brought to the sterile field during an operation (10) (11) . Also movement between operating room and other hospital buildings without changing their gowns or slippers has been implicated (12) .…”