Prevalence of bacterial burden on macroscopic contaminants of orthopaedic surgical instruments following sterilization.
J Hosp Infect
; 130: 52-55, 2022 Dec.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-36087803
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Macroscopic contamination of orthopaedic instruments with particulates, including cortical bone and polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) bone cement, that have previously undergone pre-operative sterilization is frequently encountered peri- or intraoperatively, calling into question the sterility of such instruments.AIM:
To determine if macroscopic contaminants of orthopaedic surgical instrumentation maintain a bacterial burden following sterile processing, and to determine the most commonly contaminated instruments and the most common contaminants.METHODS:
Macroscopic contaminants in orthopaedic instrument trays were collected prospectively at a single tertiary referral centre over a 6-month period from August 2021 to May 2022. When identified, these specimens were swabbed and plated on sheep blood agar. All specimens were incubated at 37 °C for 14 days, and inspected visually for colony formation. When bacterial colony formation was identified, samples were sent for species identification.RESULTS:
In total, 33 contaminants were tested, and only one contaminant was found to be growing bacterial colonies (Corynebacterium sp.). The items most commonly found to have macroscopic contamination were surgical trays (N=9) and cannulated drills (N=7). The identifiable contaminants were bone (N=10), PMMA bone cement (N=4) and hair (N=4). Eleven macroscopic contaminants were not identifiable.CONCLUSION:
This study found that 97% of macroscopic orthopaedic surgical instrument contaminants that underwent sterile processing did not possess a bacterial burden. Contaminants discovered during a procedure are likely to be sterile, and do not pose a substantially increased risk of infection to a patient.Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Ortopedia
Tipo de estudo:
Prevalence_studies
/
Risk_factors_studies
Limite:
Animals
Idioma:
En
Ano de publicação:
2022
Tipo de documento:
Article