title: Bacterial contamination of surgical scrub suits worn outside the operating theatre: a randomised crossover study.
abstract: In this study, we aimed to evaluate the bacterial contamination of surgical scrub suits worn outside the operating theatre. We randomised 16 anaesthetists on separate occasions into one of 3 groups: restricted to the operating theatre only; theatre and surgical wards; and theatre and departmental office. For each group, sample fabric pieces attached to the chest, waist and hip areas of each suit were removed at 150 min intervals between 08:30 and 16:00 on the day of study, and sent for microbiological assessment. Mean bacterial counts increased significantly over the course of the working day (p = 0.036), and were lower in the chest compared to the hip (p = 0.007) and waist areas (p = 0.016). The mean (SD) bacterial counts, expressed as colony-forming units per cm(2) at 16:00 on the day of study, were 25.2 (43.5) for those restricted to theatre and 18.5 (25.9) and 17.9 (31.0) for those allowed out to visit the ward and office, respectively (p = 0.370). We conclude that visits to ward and office did not significantly increase bacterial contamination of scrub suits.
authors.affiliation: Operating Theatre, KK Women's and Children's Hospital, Singapore.
authors.forename: H I
authors.initials: HI
authors.lastname: Hee
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: S N
authors.initials: SN
authors.lastname: Chia
authors.forename: Q S
authors.initials: QS
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: A P Q
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Liew
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ng
mesh_terms: D000776:Anesthesiology; D058491:Bacterial Load; D018592:Cross-Over Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009873:Operating Rooms / Q000592:standards*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011481:Protective Clothing / Q000382:microbiology*; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D019023:Stethoscopes