ABSTRACT
The routes by which viable organisms shed by the surgical team reach the wound are not yet fully understood. Bacteriologic studies show that shedding is greater in surgeons than their assistants or scrub nurses, and is increased by activity and temperature, but is primarily related to the individual's shedding characteristics. Comparison of the ability of 3 types of cotton gowns to contain the surgical team's bacterial effluent shows that the body exhaust system gowns developed by Charnley are superior to more conventional gowns. It is clear that viable organisms can penetrate very closely woven Ventile (pore size 10 microns) as well as balloon cloth (pore size 50 microns). Ventile used without a body exhaust system does not appear to increase gown efficiency. Penetration of gown material by organisms from the surgical team is responsible for 20% of wound contamination. The gown glove cuff junction is an important leakage point for organisms shed by the surgical team. A newly designed "mitt" cuff more effectively seals this area than the conventional stockinette cuff.
Subject(s)
Clothing , Operating Rooms/standards , Surgical Wound Infection/prevention & control , Humans , Micrococcus/isolation & purification , Personnel, Hospital , Sex Factors , Staphylococcus/isolation & purification , Surgical Wound Infection/microbiology , Temperature , VentilationABSTRACT
This study compares the efficiency, safety and cost of hair removal before surgery, with a safety razor, an electric clipper and a depilatory. It was found that both the razor and the clipper damaged the surface of the skin, while the depilatory caused a mild lymphocytic reaction in the upper dermis. The depilatory was expensive and may cause sensitivity reactions in a few individuals, but was found to be the easiest and most efficient method of removing hair. It was concluded that if hair has to be removed a depilatory is the agent of choice.
