Surgical Attire and the Operating Room: Role in Infection Prevention

Tiare E. Salassa,Marc F. Swiontkowski

Although there is some evidence that scrubs, masks, and head coverings reduce bacterial counts in the operating room, there is no evidence that these measures reduce the prevalence of surgical site infection.

The use of gloves and impervious surgical gowns in the operating room reduces the prevalence of surgical site infection.

Operating-room ventilation plays an unclear role in the prevention of surgical site infection.

Exposure of fluids and surgical instruments to the operating-room environment can lead to contamination. Room traffic increases levels of bacteria in the operating room, although the role of this contamination in surgical site infection is unclear.

Surgical site infection continues to be one of the most common and costly postoperative complications. It is estimated that nearly 300,000 surgical site infections occur each year, accounting for $10 billion in direct costs annually

Over the past fifty years, surgical attire has remained relatively unchanged. This uniform has traditionally been thought to play two roles: to protect scrubbed personnel from exposure to body fluids and to maintain the sterile surgical field. Likewise, the operating-room environment has remained stable with green or blue drapes marking the sterile field and instruments on the back table.