American Journal of Infection Control 43 (2015) 659-61
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
American Journal of Infection Control
American Journal of Infection Control
journal homepage: www.ajicjournal.org
Brief report
Biochemical and microbial contamination of surgical devices: A quantitative analysis Elaine Cloutman-Green PhD a, Melisa Canales PhD b, Qizhi Zhou PhD b, Lena Ciric PhD b, John C. Hartley MRCP, FRCPath a, Gerald McDonnell BSc, PhD c, * a b c
Microbiology, Virology and Infection Control, Camiliar Botnar Labs, Great Ormond Street Hospital, London, England Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, London, England Research and Clinical Affairs, STERIS Corporation, Mentor, OH
Key Words: Cleaning Decontamination Contamination
Reusable devices are required to be safety processed prior to patient use, including cleaning and disinfection and sterilization. In developing and testing cleaning processes, it is important to understand the levels of soils typically present on devices after surgical use. Previous soil investigations have focused on microbial contamination levels; less is known about biochemical contamination. In this study, microbial and biochemical contamination on a range of surgical instrumentation after patient use were investigated. Analysis included bacteria levels, total organic carbon, protein, and hemoglobin. The highest levels of soil contamination were caused by protein, in contrast with bacteria levels being a minor component of instrument soiling. This study provides a better understanding of the microbial and biochemical levels of soils that are typically present in used surgical devices. These levels can be used to develop artificial test soils for testing cleaning efficacy under laboratory conditions and to further evaluate patient risks from inadequate cleaning. Copyright Ó 2015 by the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Reusable devices are widely used for medical procedures. They range from critical devices that come in contact with sterile areas of the body to noncritical devices that only touch the skin.1 Regardless of the category of use, it is important to include processing steps (eg, cleaning, disinfection, sterilization) to render them safe for patient use.1 The levels of visible contamination on devices after use can range considerably. Most detailed investigations to date have studied microbial contamination.2-6 This was found to range from
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
American Journal of Infection Control
American Journal of Infection Control
journal homepage: www.ajicjournal.org
Brief report
Biochemical and microbial contamination of surgical devices: A quantitative analysis Elaine Cloutman-Green PhD a, Melisa Canales PhD b, Qizhi Zhou PhD b, Lena Ciric PhD b, John C. Hartley MRCP, FRCPath a, Gerald McDonnell BSc, PhD c, * a b c
Microbiology, Virology and Infection Control, Camiliar Botnar Labs, Great Ormond Street Hospital, London, England Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, London, England Research and Clinical Affairs, STERIS Corporation, Mentor, OH
Key Words: Cleaning Decontamination Contamination
Reusable devices are required to be safety processed prior to patient use, including cleaning and disinfection and sterilization. In developing and testing cleaning processes, it is important to understand the levels of soils typically present on devices after surgical use. Previous soil investigations have focused on microbial contamination levels; less is known about biochemical contamination. In this study, microbial and biochemical contamination on a range of surgical instrumentation after patient use were investigated. Analysis included bacteria levels, total organic carbon, protein, and hemoglobin. The highest levels of soil contamination were caused by protein, in contrast with bacteria levels being a minor component of instrument soiling. This study provides a better understanding of the microbial and biochemical levels of soils that are typically present in used surgical devices. These levels can be used to develop artificial test soils for testing cleaning efficacy under laboratory conditions and to further evaluate patient risks from inadequate cleaning. Copyright Ó 2015 by the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Reusable devices are widely used for medical procedures. They range from critical devices that come in contact with sterile areas of the body to noncritical devices that only touch the skin.1 Regardless of the category of use, it is important to include processing steps (eg, cleaning, disinfection, sterilization) to render them safe for patient use.1 The levels of visible contamination on devices after use can range considerably. Most detailed investigations to date have studied microbial contamination.2-6 This was found to range from
