Traffic flow and microbial air contamination in operating rooms at a major teaching hospital in Ghana

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articlepeer-review

Background: Current literature examining the relationship between door-opening rate, number of people present, and microbial air contamination in the operating room is limited. Studies are especially needed from low- and middle-income countries, where the risk of surgical site infections is high. Aim: To assess microbial air contamination in operating rooms at a Ghanaian teaching hospital and the association with door-openings and number of people present. Moreover, we aimed to document reasons for door-opening. Methods: We conducted active air-sampling using an MAS 100® portable impactor during 124 clean or clean-contaminated elective surgical procedures. The number of people present, door-opening rate and the reasons for each door-opening were recorded by direct observation using pretested structured observation forms. Findings: During surgery, the mean number of colony-forming units (cfu) was 328 cfu/m3 air, and 429 (84%) of 510 samples exceeded a recommended level of 180 cfu/m3. Of 6717 door-openings recorded, 77% were considered unnecessary. Levels of cfu/m3 were strongly correlated with the number of people present (P = 0.001) and with the number of door-openings/h (P = 0.02). In empty operating rooms, the mean cfu count was 39 cfu/m3 after 1 h of uninterrupted ventilation and 52 (51%) of 102 samples exceeded a recommended level of 35 cfu/m3. Conclusion: The study revealed high values of intraoperative airborne cfu exceeding recommended levels. Minimizing the number of door-openings and people present during surgery could be an effective strategy to reduce microbial air contamination in low- and middle-income settings.

Original languageEnglish
JournalJournal of Hospital Infection
Volume99
Issue number3
Pages (from-to)263-270
Number of pages8
ISSN0195-6701
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jul 2018

Bibliographical note

Copyright © 2017 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

    Research areas

  • Airborne bacteria, Infection control, Low- and middle-income countries, Operating rooms, Staff behaviour, Traffic flow, Air Microbiology, Humans, Male, Ghana, Colony Count, Microbial, Health Personnel, Hospitals, Teaching, Operating Rooms, Female

Number of downloads are based on statistics from Google Scholar and www.ku.dk


No data available

ID: 189862026