Abstract
BackgroundEnvironmental cleanliness is one of the contributing factors for surgical site infections in the operating rooms (ORs). To decrease environmental contamination, pulsed xenon ultraviolet (PX-UV), an easy and safe no-touch disinfection system, is employed in several hospital environments. The positive effect of this technology on environmental decontamination has been observed in patient rooms and ORs during the end-of-day cleaning but so far, no study explored its feasibility between surgical cases in the OR.MethodsIn this study, 5 high-touch surfaces in 30 ORs were sampled after manual cleaning and after PX-UV intervention mimicking between-case cleaning to avoid the disruption of the ORs’ normal flow. The efficacy of a 1-min, 2-min, and 8-min cycle were tested by measuring the surfaces’ contaminants by quantitative cultures using Tryptic Soy Agar contact plates.ResultsWe showed that combining standard between-case manual cleaning of surfaces with a 2-min cycle of disinfection using a portable xenon pulsed ultraviolet light germicidal device eliminated at least 70% more bacterial load after manual cleaning.ConclusionsThis study showed the proof of efficacy of a 2-min cycle of PX-UV in ORs in eliminating bacterial contaminants. This method will allow a short time for room turnover and a potential reduction of pathogen transmission to patients and possibly surgical site infections.
Highlights
Environmental cleanliness is one of the contributing factors for surgical site infections in the operating rooms (ORs)
A total of pre-pulsed xenon ultraviolet (PX-UV) samples and post-PX-UV samples measuring bacterial load obtained for the 5 hightouch surfaces were included in the analysis
A 2-min PX-UV cycle was as effective in eliminating an equal load of bacterial contamination when compared to an 8-min cycle
Summary
Environmental cleanliness is one of the contributing factors for surgical site infections in the operating rooms (ORs). To decrease environmental contamination, pulsed xenon ultraviolet (PX-UV), an easy and safe no-touch disinfection system, is employed in several hospital environments. The positive effect of this technology on environmental decontamination has been observed in patient rooms and ORs during the end-of-day cleaning but so far, no study explored its feasibility between surgical cases in the OR. The portable ultraviolet light germicidal device employing pulsed xenon lamps (PX-UV) has been shown to be a safe, easy-to-operate, and effective system in decreasing the number of pathogens [7]. Two studies have shown that the use of PX-UV in addition to standard end-of-day manual cleaning helped reduce. Rapid and effective between-case cleaning could reduce environmental contamination, protecting subsequent patients during the same day of operation. While improved patient outcomes have been observed after PX-UV during nightly terminal cleaning practices [8, 9], no data are available on the impact of this technology when applied between surgical cases
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