A study of microbial colonisation of orthopaedic tourniquets

Tourniquets are employed widely in orthopaedic surgery. The use of the same tourniquet on a repetitive basis without a standard protocol for cleaning may be a source of cross-infection. This study examines the contamination of the tourniquets in our institution.

Agar plates were used to take samples from 20 tourniquets employed in orthopaedic procedures. Four sites on each tourniquet were cultured and incubated at 37 degrees C for 48 h.

All sampled tourniquets were contaminated with colony counts varying from 9 to > 385. Coagulase-negative Staphylococcus spp. were the most commonly grown organisms from the tourniquets (96%). Some tourniquets had growths of important pathogens including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), Pseudomonas spp., and S. aureus. On cleaning five tourniquets with Clinell (detergent and disinfectant) wipes (GAMA Healthcare Ltd, London, UK), there was a 99.2% reduction in contamination of the tourniquets 5 min after cleaning.

In addition to the manufacturers' guidelines, we recommend the cleaning of tourniquets with a disinfectant wipe before every case.