Comparison of number of airborne bacteria in operating rooms with turbulent mixing ventilation and unidirectional airflow when using reusable scrub suits and single-use scrub suits

Introduction: A low count of airborne bacteria in the operating room is a means to prevent surgical site infection.Aim: To investigate levels of airborne bacteria during surgical procedures in two operating rooms with turbulent mixing ventilation (TMV) and unidirectional airflow (UDAF), both with an air supply of 2600 L/s, when staff used either reusable scrub suits made from a mixed material (dry penetration <300 cfu) or single-use scrub suits made from poly-propylene (dry penetration <100 cfu).Material and methods: In the TMV-room cfu/m3 air was measured during eight procedures with staff wearing reusable scrub suits and seven procedures with single-use scrub. In the UDAF-room cfu/m3 air was measured during seven procedures with staff wearing reusable scrub suits.Findings: Mean values of cfu/m3 air were 1.3-10.8 in the TMV-room with staff dressed in reusable scrub suits and 0.8-4.0 with staff dressed in single-use scrub suits (P<0.01). Mean values of cfu/m3 air were 0.2-4.5 in the UDAF-room with staff dressed in reusable scrub suits. The difference obtained with reusable scrub suits in the two rooms was significant (P<0.01).Conclusions: The mode of ventilation affects the cfu levels when staff are dressed in less occlusive scrub suits despite a high air supply. It is possible to decrease the cfu levels in a TMV-room by using scrub suits made from a tight material, thus reaching the same levels that are achieved by less protective scrub suits in a UDAF-room.& COPY; 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of The Healthcare Infection Society. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).