(osmag.net/sGmWT6).
These low rates are good news. However, the most current CDC
healthcare-acquired infections progress report for 2016-2017 notes
only a 1% decrease from previous years in inpatient SSI rates. That
plateauing of rates can be attributed to the significant progress in
infection prevention practices made over the last decade. It's harder
to move the needle as we move closer to eliminating infection risks,
but you can keep pushing it closer to zero by overcoming common
barriers to basic infection prevention practices and expanding your
focus to factors that have traditionally been considered less of a risk.
For example:
• Air purification. Engineering controls such as increased regular air
changes and positive air pressure have been the extent of efforts in
most facilties to control air quality in the OR. However, those engi-
neering controls can be neutralized whenever OR doors are opened
and do not serve to remove contaminants from circulating air. New
technologies, including a portable unit that combines the actions of
ultraviolet light and HEPA filtration, clear the air of circulating bacte-
ria-laden particles that can settle on the sterile field.
• Nasal decolonization. Treating the nares of not only patients, but
also surgical team members is showing promise in reducing the reser-
voirs of MRSA and MSSA, which cause a significant percentage of all
surgical infections.
• Wound protection. Novel wound protectors with integrated irriga-
tion and suction have shown great success in reducing the risk of
wound-edge contamination in abdominal surgery, the primary risk fac-
tor for post-op surgical infection.
• Whole room disinfection. Ultraviolet light technologies are being
increasingly used as an adjunct to manual environmental cleaning,
and more recently to disinfect mobile phones and tablets, which are
On Point
OP
6 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • M A Y 2 0 1 9
