Collection of studies in hospital settings Part 2
“….At the termination of each operation, wound irrigates were examined under the microscope. Particle contamination of the wound was demonstrated in all experients. Since the microspheres were not identified on the exterior of these face masks, they must have escaped around the mask edges and found their way into the wound. The wearing of the mask beneath the headgear curtails this route of contamination.”
“…The wearing of a surgical face mask had no effect upon the overall operating room environmental contamination and probably work only to redirect the projectile effect of talking and breathing. People are the major source of environmental contamination in the operating room.”
“…We, therefore, prospectively evaluated the experience of 504 patients undergoing percutaneous left heart catheterization, seeking evidence of a relationship between whether caps and/or masks were worn by the operators and the incidence of infection. No infections were found in any patient, regardless of whether a cap or mask was used. Thus, we found no evidence that caps or masks need to be worn during percutaneous cardiac catheterization.”
Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery:
“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.”
“Surgical face masks worn by patients during regional anaesthesia, did not reduce the concentration of airborne bacteria over the operation field in our study. Thus they are dispensable. A higher airborne germ concentration has been detected in patients during general anaesthesia. The reasons for this finding are unknown, but it may be discussed as being a result of a higher activity and number of staff involved during general anaesthesia causing more air turbulence.”
Anaesthesia and Intensive Care
“…There is little evidence to suggest that the wearing of surgical face masks by staff in the operating theatre decreases postoperative wound infections. Published evidence indicates that postoperative wound infec- tion rates are not significantly different in unmasked versus masked theatre staff. However, there is evidence indicating a significant reduction in post- operative wound infection rates when theatre staff are unmasked. “
“This article describes our five-year experience of continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) with bag exchanges performed without use of a face mask. The study took place in the renal unit at a university hospital. All patients admitted to the CAPD program from February 1995 to March 2000 were trained to perform bag exchanges without use of a face mask. Occurrence of peritonitis episodes was the outcome of interest.
We evaluated 94 patients (52 women, 42 men) with a mean age of 48 ± 21 years and a total follow-up of 50,502 patient–days. During that time, 79 episodes of peritonitis occurred in 46 patients, for a peritonitis rate of 0.57 episodes/year. The most frequently isolated micro-organisms were Staphylococcus epidermidis in 20 patients (25.3%) and S. aureus in 11 patients (13.9%). Renal transplantation was the major cause of drop-out [23 patients (43.4%)], followed by peritonitis [14 patients (26.4%)], death due to cardiovascular complications [9 patients (17.0%)], loss of ultrafiltration [2 patients (3.8%)], and other causes [5 patients (9.4%)]. The probability of being free of peritonitis at 12 months was 0.60, and at 60 months, 0.37.
Peritonitis rates during the study period were not different from those reported by other centers, supporting the hypothesis that routine use of a face mask during CAPD bag exchange may be unnecessary.”