2021/04/28 by Roland Knudsen, R.J. Knudsen, Sofie Marie Knudsen +9 · 2 citations
Medicine · #Infection Control and Ventilation #Nosocomial Infections in ICU #Surgical site infection prevention
paper · pdf · doi:10.1016/j.jhin.2021.04.019
openalex publication_date 2021/04/28 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
BACKGROUND: Preventing surgical site infections and prosthetic joint infections is crucial for patient safety after total joint arthroplasty. Microbial air contamination has been suggested as a risk factor. Therefore, the ventilation system that will reduce air contamination most effectively in operating theatres (OTs) has been discussed. AIM: To determine whether laminar airflow (LAF) ventilation is superior to turbulent airflow (TAF) ventilation by looking at the colony forming units (cfu) count during live total hip and knee arthroplasties. Furthermore, to explore whether the number of OT personnel, door and cabinet lock openings and technical parameters of the ventilation systems have an impact on the number of cfu. METHODS: Active air sampling and passive sedimented bacterial load were performed in 17 OTs, equipped with either LAF or TAF ventilation, during 51 live surgeries while observations were noted. FINDINGS: . Door and cabinet lock openings and number of personnel did not influence the cfu count, while it decreased with increasing volume and total air change per hour (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: All LAF OTs had cfu counts within recommendations and provided lower cfu counts compared with TAF OTs. The number of OT personnel and total openings did not have an influence on cfu counts. Increased volume of the OT and total air change per hour showed a decrease in active cfu counts.