Ricerc@Sapienza

Postoperative infections are a concern, especially in total knee and total hip arthroplasty.
We evaluated the air quality in orthopaedic operating theatres in southeastern Italy to determine the
level of bacterial contamination as a risk factor for postoperative infection. Thirty-five hospitals with
operating theatres focused on total knee and total hip arthroplasty participated. We sampled the air
passively and actively before surgeries began for the day (at rest) and 15 min after the surgical incision
(in operation). We evaluated bacterial counts, particle size, mixed vs turbulent airflow systems, the
number of doors, number of door openings during procedures and number of people in the operating
theatre. We found no bacterial contamination at rest for all sampling methods, and significantly
different contamination levels at rest vs in operation. We found no association between the number of
people in the surgical team and bacteria counts for both mixed and turbulent airflow systems, and
low bacterial loads, even when doors were always open. Overall, the air quality sampling method
and type of ventilation system did not affect air quality