The Effect of Heated CO₂ Insufflation in Minimising Surgical Wound Contamination During Open Surgery

The primary source of infections in open surgeries has been found to be bacteria and viruses carried into the surgical wound on the surfaces of skin particles shed by patients and surgical staff. In open cardiac surgeries, insufflation of the wound with carbon dioxide is used to limit the quantity of air able to enter into the heart, avoiding air embolisms when the heart is restarted. This surgical technique has been evaluated as a method of limiting the number of skin particles able to enter into the wound, using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations and experimental testing. Spherical particles of 5.0 and 13.5 μm in diameter were used to simulate skin particles falling above a wound, travelling in air ventilation velocities of either 0.2 or 0.4 m/s, and with or without CO₂ insufflation. The CFD simulations with CO₂ included a diffuser placed in the wound and supplied with CO₂ at a rate of 10 L/min. Experimental testing was completed under similar conditions. The results of CFD simulations and experimental testing showed CO₂ insufflation can significantly limit the number of particles able to enter into the wound.