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33rd Annual Scientific Meeting proceedings
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Session:
Date/Time: 30-11--0001 (00:00 - 00:00)
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Wet bacterial penetration of steam sterilized disposable surgical gowns: a pilot study
Stael J, Beekhuis I, Haspeslagh M*, Martens A*
Department of Surgery, Anesthesia and Orthopedics of Large Animals, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University, Merelbeke, Belgium.
Objectives:
The use of disposable surgical gowns is common practice in equine hospitals. To reduce the environmental footprint and costs, disposable medical devices are frequently re-used in veterinary medicine. The objective of this study is to measure the effect of repeated steam sterilization of single-use surgical gowns on wet bacterial penetration to address the safety of re-use.
Methods:
Based on the European Standard 22610, a simplified test of wet bacterial penetration with
Staphylococcus Aureus was performed on ten surgical gowns of three different fabrics: spunlace, SMMMS (Spunbond/3xMeltblown/Spunbond Polypropylene) and SMS (Spunbond/Meltblown/Spunbond Polypropylene). Of each gown, four samples were taken and assigned to a different sterilization category: sterile out of packaging, one-, two- or three-times resterilization. In between sterilization cycles, samples were manipulated to simulate wearing of the gown. Gowns were tested in both penetration directions: outside-to-inside (OTI) and inside-to-outside (ITO). The Index Barrier (IB) was calculated for every sample.
Results:
The IB was higher for all valid tests (117/120) than the recommended threshold of 2.8 (range 4.40 – 6.00). The mean spunlace IB ITO (5.04) was lower compared to OTI (5.90) for the sterile out of packaging category and mean spunlace IB ITO gradually increased with the number of re-sterilizations (5.04 to 5.68). The mean SMMMS and SMS IB did not differ more than 0.05 (ITO) and 0.14 (OTI) between categories.
Conclusions:
Steam sterilization of disposable surgical gowns up to three times is safe in terms of wet bacterial penetration for all three different types of fabric in both penetration directions.
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