technology Information several years ago, doctors examined 40
anesthesia machines' breathing circuit systems and found evidence
of contamination in 17 (43%) of them.
Then there's the issue of contamination in the tools anesthetists use,
like the stopcock, which the CDC reports has a contamination rate of
45% to 50% in the majority of series.
"The good news is that researchers are examining how to redesign
the way we inject and anesthetize patients in order to cut down on
the opportunities for contamination," says Dr. Biddle, adding that
redesigns on the horizon include changing the design of the IV portal,
changing the design of the stopcock, engineering disinfectable needles
and creating a physical barrier to protect your anesthesia machine
from contamination.
"But much of that
research is still in the
works," says Dr.
Biddle. "For now, it
has to start with us."
What can your anes-
thetists do now to
reduce the risk of
cross-contamination?
Many providers are
split on the topic of
prefilled syringes, but
Dr. Biddle sees them
as a useful way to cut
back on the risk of
infection by taking the
human element out of
J A N U A R Y 2 0 1 8 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y. N E T • 3 3
