Randy W. Loftus, MD, and colleagues of Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, N.H., performed a study to determine the origin of bacteria transmitted to the surgical field in 164 OR procedures using general anesthesia. The study found that in half the cases in which bacteria was transmitted, the bacteria originated on the hands of anesthesia providers.
Additionally, transmission was more likely when the anesthesiologist had to supervise more than one room simultaneously, as well as in older patients or when the patient was sent straight from the OR to the ICU.
Read the full study on hand contamination of anesthesia providers in Anesthesia & Analgesia.
Read more on anesthesia:
–Short-Acting Opioids May Increase Fracture Risk in Elderly Patients
–Screening, Drug Reduction Essential for Ambulatory Surgery of Very Old and Very Young Patients
–FDA Accepts Drug Application for Postsurgical Pain Management
