Multifunctional use of an operating theatre: is floor drainage posing an increased risk of infection?

Area of Science:

• Urology
• Surgical Infection Control
• Operating Theatre Management

Background:

• Floor drainage is essential for transurethral urologic surgery but unnecessary for skin incision surgery.
• Concerns exist that floor drainage in operating theatres may increase surgical site infection (SSI) rates after skin incision surgery due to aerosol contamination.
• This study investigated the impact of multifunctional operating theatre use on SSI rates.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine if shared operating theatres with floor drainage increase SSI rates for skin incision surgery.
• To assess the safety of multifunctional operating theatre use in urologic surgery.

Main Methods:

• Prospective study comparing SSI rates in two groups of patients undergoing kidney or prostate skin incision surgery.
• Group 1: 272 patients operated in a theatre with floor drainage.
• Group 2: 755 patients operated in a theatre without floor drainage. SSIs classified using CDC criteria.

Main Results:

• No statistically significant difference in SSI rates was observed between theatres with (2.6%) and without floor drainage (2.8%).
• The p-value for the difference in SSI rates was 0.86.
• This indicates floor drainage did not impact SSI rates for these procedures.

Conclusions:

• Multifunctional use of operating theatres with floor drainage for both transurethral and skin incision urologic surgery does not elevate SSI rates.
• Implementing multifunctional operating theatre use can improve operational flexibility and efficiency.
• Shared use of theatres with floor drainage is a safe practice for urologic surgery.