Operating room disinfection with ultraviolet: Sarikamiş Military Hospital experience

Abstract

In operating rooms or intensive care units, air quality is an important factor in preventing hospital infections and protecting patients and hospital staff from various chemical and microbiological agents that contaminate the air. Likewise, disinfecting operating rooms also helps prevent surgical site infection. High air quality in hospitals can be ensured by providing more positive pressure in operating rooms when compared to corridors or other neighboring areas, installing two separate filter systems in operating room ventilation systems, moving the air through a High Efficiency Particulate Air filter (HEPA), and supplying laminar air flow. In Sarikamiş, Military Hospital operating rooms, where there is no positive pressure treatment or a filtered ventilation system, air disinfection is provided by UV lamps and other disinfection methods. This study investigated the effects of UV lights on the micro-organisms in the operating room air in Sarikamiş Military Hospital by using three different methods. The results showed that UV lights in the operating room did indeed disinfect the air and that there was no difference between the efficiency levels measured by three different methods. Additionally, the efficiency levels obtained in this study were similar to those found in earlier studies, but it was also concluded that efficiency was highly restricted due to low penetration. The study thus suggests that the efficiency of UV lights in operating rooms should be measured periodically through similar methods. At the same time, it should be remembered that laminar flow and HEPA filtered climatization tools are also necessary for operating room disinfection, and that positive pressure is needed in operating rooms. The use of weak penetration UV lights alone, as is the case in many operating rooms in Turkey, is not enough to ensure efficient air disinfection and may not prevent post-operative surgical site infections which are a major cause of patient injury, mortality, and health care cost.