Elevator Cabin Decontamination With ACTIVE Particle Control™ Technology.

Effectively reducing contamination and aerosolized bioburden may limit the risk of disease transmission in closed settings when social distancing is not possible. Unlike uncontrolled ionization and oxidation devices ACTIVE Particle Control™ conditions particles in a highly controlled fashion which provides effective air purification without the generation of ozone or other toxic by-products. The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of ACTIVE Particle Control™ on elevator cabin particle load compared to standard ventilation. The intervention trial utilized particle mass tools to determine the difference in particle clearance between standard elevator cabin ventilation and ACTIVE Particle Control™ technology. Cabin particulate contaminants were significantly reduced using ACTIVE Particle Control™ technology in an operating elevator.

Laparoscopic surgery produced less surgical smoke and contamination comparing with open surgery: the pilot study in fresh cadaveric experiment in COVID-19 pandemic.

BACKGROUND: The SARS-CoV2 virus has been identified in abdominal cavity of the COVID-19 patients. Therefore, the potential viral transmission from any surgical created smoke in these patients is of concern especially in laparoscopic surgery. This study aimed to compare the amount of surgical smoke and surgical field contamination between laparoscopic and open surgery in fresh cadavers. METHODS: Cholecystectomy in 12 cadavers was performed and they were divided into 4 groups: laparoscopic approach with or without smoke evacuator, and open approach with or without smoke evacuator. The increased particle counts in surgical smoke of each group were analyzed. In the model of appendectomy, surgical field contamination under ultraviolet light and visual contamination scale between laparoscopic and open approach were compared. RESULTS: Open cholecystectomy significantly produced a greater amount of overall particle sizes, particle sizes < 5 µm and particle sizes ≥ 5 µm than laparoscopic cholecystectomy (10,307 × 103 vs 3738 × 103, 10,226 × 103 vs 3685 × 103 and 81 × 103 vs 53 × 103 count/m3, respectively at p < 0.05). The use of smoke evacuator led to decrease in the amount of overall particle sizes of 58% and 32.4% in the open and laparoscopic chelecystectomy respectively. Median (interquatile range) visual contamination scale of surgical field in open appendectomy [3.50 (2.33, 4.67)] was significantly greater than laparoscopic appendectomy [1.50 (0.67, 2.33)] at p < 0.001. CONCLUSIONS: Laparoscopic cholecystectomy yielded less smoke-related particles than open cholecystectomy. The use of smoke evacuator, abeit non-significantly, reduced the particles in both open and laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Laparoscopic appendectomy had a lower degree of surgical field contamination than the open approach.