Highlights
- •The operating room was not included in the 2010 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's list of recommended high touch hospital areas to clean.
- •This study identified high touch areas within an operating room setting.
- •The researchers recommend that an established cleaning protocol be established and followed within the operating room setting based on the findings of this study.
Background
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention put forth the recommendation to clean
areas considered high touch more frequently than minimal touch surfaces. The operating
room was not included in these recommendations. The purpose of this study was to determine
the most frequently touched surfaces in the operating room and their level of contamination.
Methods
Phase 1 was a descriptive study to identify high touch areas in the operating room.
In phase 2, high touch areas determined in phase 1 were cultured to determine if high
touch areas observed were also highly contaminated and if they were more contaminated
than a low touch surface.
Results
The 5 primary high touch surfaces in order were the anesthesia computer mouse, OR
bed, nurse computer mouse, OR door, and anesthesia medical cart. Using the OR light
as a control, this study demonstrated that a low touch area was less contaminated
than the high touch areas with the exception of the OR bed.
Conclusions
Based on information and data collected in this study, it is recommended that an enhanced
cleaning protocol be established based on the most frequently touched surfaces in
the operating room.
Key Words
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: May 07, 2016
Footnotes
Funding/Support: Supported by the CareFusion Foundation.
Conflicts of Interest: None to report.
Identification
Copyright
© 2016 Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
