Comparison of number of air-borne bacteria in operating rooms with turbulent mixing ventilation and unidirectional airflow when using reusable scrub suits and single-use scrub suits.

INTRODUCTION: Low counts of air-borne bacteria in the operating room is a mean to prevent surgical site infection.

AIM: To investigate levels of air-borne bacteria during surgical procedures in two operating rooms with turbulent mixing ventilation (TMV) and unidirectional airflow (UDAF), both with an air supply of 2600 L/s, when staff used either reusable scrub suits made from a mixed material (dry penetration ≤ 300 CFU) or single-use scrub suits made from polypropylene (dry penetration ≤ 100 CFU).

MATERIAL AND METHODS: In the TMV-room colony forming units (CFU) per m3 air was measured during eight procedures with staff wearing reusable scrub suits and seven procedures with single-use scrub. In the UDAF-room CFU/m3 air was measured during seven procedures with staff wearing reusable scrub suits.

FINDINGS: Mean values of CFU/m3 air were 1.3 to 10.8 in the TMV-room with staff dressed in reusable scrub suits and 0.8 to 4.0 with staff dressed in single-use scrub suits (p < 0.01). Mean values of CFU/m3 air were 0.2 to 4.5 in the UDAF-room with staff dressed in reusable scrub suits. The difference obtained with reusable scrub suits in the two rooms was significant (p < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONS: The mode of ventilation affects the CFU-levels when staff is dressed in less occlusive scrub suits despite a high air supply. It is possible to decrease the CFU-levels in a TMV-room by using scrub suits made from a tight material thus reaching the same levels that are achieved by less protective scrub suits in a UDAF-room.