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LETTERS & E-Mails
letters@outpatientsurgery.net
The Thin Science of Infection Prevention
◗ Re: "6 Pieces of the Barrier Protection Puzzle" (January 2012, page
26). Most of this article presents practices that are common at most
surgical facilities and common sense might suggest adopting the suggested changes, but to educate staff and medical staff we need evidence-based guidelines. Where are the references that demonstrate a
higher incidence of SSIs from "dirty" shoes, from head and facial hair
not completely covered, by anesthesia personnel not taking their
gloves off immediately after establishing an airway and then adjusting
the dials on the anesthesia machine? Stray hairs or spots of blood on
shoes sound terrible, but are they really harmful? All of these activities are seen every day at surgical facilities across the country. There
has been much evidence about poor handwashing and poor instrument-cleaning techniques spreading and causing SSIs. We need similar evidence for all of these other scenarios before we'll ever convince
all of our staff and physicians to change their practices.
Jack Egnatinsky, MD
President, AAAHC Board of Directors
jackegnatinsky@gmail.com
◗ Is there any research that you can provide regarding SSIs traced
from scalp and hair of scrub personnel? It's hard to impose these practices on staff, especially physicians, if it is only presumed, logical but
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O U T PAT I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E O N L I N E | M A R C H 2013
