A P R I L 2 0 1 5 O U T P A T I E N TS U R G E R Y. N E T 5 9
ly with chlorine bleach, UV provides another level of security."
Selective use
When doing same-day, elective procedures on healthy patients, it's fair to won-
der how germ-zapping robots will impact your turnover times. "Time is a key
factor," says Ms. Tonsager. "We like to turn over our operating room in 15 to 20
minutes. In the OR, time is money."
the room has been set up and sterile packs and supplies
have been opened for a joint replacement (yes, contami-
nation of environmental surfaces is common even after
surface disinfection, especially if there have been lapses
in hand hygiene); and
• during the procedure, they run a final 5-
minute cycle in the recovery room that the total
joint patient will be wheeled into.
"Right before we bring the patient into the
room and everything's set up, we run the UV
light one last time so that we have complete
sterilization and disinfection of the entire room —
something you can't achieve with chemical dis-
infection," says Dr. Nessler, who adds that partic-
ulates that can cause post-operative infections
begin to settle as soon as they begin opening for
a case. "This is the only time I know when I'm
going into an operating room to perform a joint
replacement that I have the ultimate in sterility
in the room before we start the case."
— Dan O'Connor
