Glass particle contamination threat in nursing practice: A pilot study

Area of Science:

• Pharmaceutical Sciences
• Medical Device Contamination
• Nursing Practice

Background:

• Medical ampoules are common drug delivery systems.
• Glass particle contamination is a potential risk during ampoule preparation.
• Ensuring medication safety requires minimizing particulate matter.

Purpose of the Study:

• To quantify glass particle contamination from medical ampoules during breakage.
• To evaluate the efficacy of syringe-filters in removing these glass particles.

Main Methods:

• Three types of medical ampoules (A, B, C) were broken.
• Contents were dispensed using 21 or 22G needles, with and without syringe-filters.
• Glass particle contamination was assessed microscopically.

Main Results:

• 94% of samples showed glass particles ranging from 0.94-90.70 µm.
• Ampoule types B and C had significantly more particles (162 and 201) than type A (48).
• Syringe-filters reduced contamination by up to 85% in types B and C, with no effect on type A.

Conclusions:

• Ampoule opening procedures inevitably lead to glass particle contamination.
• Contamination levels vary by ampoule type and content.
• Syringe-filter use is a valuable method to reduce glass particle contamination in nursing practice.