Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Intraoperative contamination of the suction tip in clean orthopedic surgeries in dogs and cats.
- Journal:
- Veterinary surgery : VS
- Year:
- 2012
- Authors:
- Medl, Nikola et al.
- Affiliation:
- Clinic for Small Animal Surgery
Plain-English summary
In a study involving 50 clean orthopedic surgeries on dogs and cats, researchers looked at how often the suction tips used during surgery became contaminated with bacteria. They tested two types of suction—continuous and intermittent—and found that 22 out of the 50 surgeries showed signs of bacterial contamination, primarily from a type of bacteria called coagulase-negative Staphylococci, with some being resistant to multiple antibiotics. The study did not find any significant difference in contamination rates between the two suction methods, nor did the length of the surgery seem to affect contamination. Overall, the researchers concluded that neither suction method was better at preventing contamination, and they could not determine a safe time frame before contamination occurred.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To (1) determine suction tip (intermittent and continuous mode) contamination rate in orthopedic surgery in dogs and cats; (2) examine the effect of surgical time on contamination; and (3) report bacteria isolated. STUDY DESIGN: Clinical study. SAMPLE POPULATION: Clean orthopedic surgeries (n = 50). METHODS: Surgical procedures were assigned to 1 of 2 groups: (1) continuous (n = 25) or (2) intermittent suction (n = 25). A control suction was operated in each surgery. Samples for aerobic and anaerobic bacteriologic examination were collected from the surgical suction at 0, 20, 60 minutes, and at the end of surgery, and from the control suction at the end of the surgery only. Comparison of continuous and intermittent suction data, and the effect of surgical time on contamination rate were analyzed using a Kaplan-Meier survival analysis followed by a Cox proportional hazards model. P < .05 was considered significant. RESULTS: Aerobic contamination occurred in 22 of 50 surgical procedures and there was no anaerobic growth. There was no significant difference between continuous and intermittent suction mode groups (P = .40). Surgical time did not influence the contamination rate (P = .79). Bacterial cultures mainly revealed coagulase-negative Staphylococci, however multiresistant bacteria were isolated. CONCLUSIONS: We failed to find superiority of the intermittent operation mode of the suction tip over the continuous mode. A safe time frame before contamination of the suction tip occurs that could not be defined.
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Search related cases →Original publication: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22092096/