Outpatient Surgery Magazine, providing current information on Surgical Services, Surgical Facility Administration, Outpatient Surgery News and Trends, OR Excellence and more.
Issue link: http://outpatientsurgery.uberflip.com/i/1260233
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic the United States (US) Surgeon General released a formal advisory to cancel elective surgeries in order to prevent depletion of medical resources needed to manage the surge of coronavirus cases. At the same time Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) announced that outpatient surgery centers would be permitted to admit patients with other critical needs unrelated to COVID-19, such as cancer or heart attacks, allowing hospitals to conserve scarce resources. Now, several months into the pandemic, inpatient and outpatient operating rooms are planning a return to a new normal, guided by a joint statement by key professional organizations. This statement recommends that this will require new measures in addition to standard surgical infection prevention precautions, in order to prevent ongoing transmission of COVID-19 and other respiratory viruses. This will include some tactics supporting prevention of both respiratory viruses and surgical site infection, such as ensuring that fewer team members are in the OR during cases and meticulous cleaning of horizontal surfaces between cases. Other measures such as N95 respirator plus face shield or PAPR during intubation and extubation of COVID+ patients, will focus only on prevention of COVID-19. It is important to underscore that airborne and aerosol risks to surgical team members and patients beyond COVID-19 continue to include smoke inhalation and potential aerosolization of HPV during cautery (surgical teams), as well as transiently airborne bacteria laden particulates (patients receiving implants). Currently in US operating rooms there are no requirements for air quality testing, where it is assumed to be sufficient as a result of engineering controls (positive air pressure, increased air changes, temperature and humidity control and high efficiency particulate air filter or HEPA). However, it has been demonstrated that those controls can be defeated by door openings and room traffic during cases. Given the new risk posed by COVID-19, in addition to the existing airborne and aerosol risks to surgical patients and team members, it would be prudent to consider adjunctive technology to optimize air quality in operating rooms, as another component of the new normal. The combination of HEPA and UV in a portable air disinfection unit, has been demonstrated to effectively reduce airborne particles, circulating pathogens, improve the quality of OR air and reduce surgical infection rates. For article references and more information visit www.aerobiotix.com. ADVERTORIAL Air Quality: Re-opening Operating Rooms after COVID-19 Author: Sue Barnes, RN, CIC, FAPIC Independently tested to eliminate >99.9% of viruses, bacteria and spores.