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Updated: Nov 24, 2025
Safety Precautions and Operating Procedures in an ABSL-4 Laboratory: 3. Aerobiology
Published on: October 3, 2016
High Number of Door Openings Increases the Bacterial Load of the Operating Room
Shan S Lansing1, James P Moley1, Mary S McGrath1
1The Ohio State University College of Medicine, Columbus, Ohio, USA.
Abstract:
Operating room (OR) traffic and door openings have emerged as potential modifiable risk factors for the development of surgical site infections. This study compared the microbial load of a Control OR without traffic versus a Simulated OR with the traffic in a typical orthopedic surgery case. Air particle counts and colony forming units (CFUs) were measured. A novel iOS app was developed to provide real-time door counts. There were 1,862 particles >5.0 mcm in the Simulated OR compared with 56 in the Control OR. The CFUs from plates in the Simulated OR ranged from 4-22 (on brain heart infusion [BHI] agar), 2-266 (on mannitol salt agar [MSA]), and 1-19 (on Pseudomonas isolation agar [PIA]), while all plates in the Control OR grew 0-1 CFUs. High number of door openings leads to more airborne bacteria in the OR and viable bacterial on OR surfaces. The increased bacterial load throughout the OR was independent of distance from the door.
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