Multiple factors influencing OR ventilation system effectiveness

• Main Authors: Buhl Sebastian, Eschenbecher Nicole, Hentschel Sabine, Bulitta Clemens
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: De Gruyter 2016-09-01
• Series: Current Directions in Biomedical Engineering
• Subjects: nosocomial infection; or-clothing; ventilation systems
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1515/cdbme-2016-0074

The issue of surgical site infections has become more critical during the last years. The number of airborne microbes depends on the number released by the staff in the room or supplied from neighbouring rooms. In order to minimize the risk of nosocomial infections during surgical procedures technical developments like ventilation systems were introduced in the operating room (OR). In this study several factors like clothing and types of ventilation systems have been investigated and their impact on the effectiveness for reducing microbial burden in the OR has been assessed. In case of OR-gowns we found a benefit for a disposable Swedish clothing concept regarding microbiological contamination in comparison with the German standard multiuse clothing. Moreover our study shows that there is comparable effectiveness of a fairly novel temperature controlled airflow ventilation system (TAF) compared to standard low turbulent uni-directional airflow (TAV).