sider upper room or shielded
ceiling UV-C, visible
light/high-intensity narrow-
spectrum light and dry
hydrogen peroxide systems.
• Ceiling UV-C. There are 2
primary categories of upper
room UV-C systems. The
most well-known are those
that originally gained popu-
larity for their efficacy in
preventing tuberculosis
transmission in the 1960s. These units are mounted to the upper walls
or ceilings of a room in an effort to keep the UV-C beams above a
room's occupants. Ventilated movement of air within the room brings
infectious aerosols into the germicidal beam and delivers disinfected
air back to the "breathing zone." Safety concerns, however, have limit-
ed the use of these systems as reports of irritation to eyes (photokera-
tinitis) and skin (photodermatitis) have demonstrated that human UV-
C exposure is occurring below the upper room zone.
Newer ceiling UV-C systems have solved this exposure problem by
drawing air into a ceiling-mounted unit with a shielded UV-C lamp
inside. Air is drawn in through a filter, disinfected and blown out by
an internal fan, helping to recirculate the disinfected air. These sys-
tems offer a novel way of treating contaminated air and improving air
quality. Studies have shown their effectiveness against both bacteria
and fungi in the air; however, the impact on surface contamination
remains to be studied.
• Dry hydrogen peroxide (DHP). DHP has been used for decades by
the military and agriculture industry for environmental disinfection, but
A P R I L 2 0 1 9 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y. N E T • 7 3
• HARD TO KILL A growing body of research has demonstrated that
manual cleaning and disinfection of the operating room is suboptimal.
Pamela
Bevelhymer,
RN,
BSN,
CNOR
