Risk of contamination of the wound in a hydrotherapeutic tank

Over a 4-week period, samples for culture were taken from active hydrotherapeutic tanks (whirlpools) from two institutions in a university medical center. Samples were obtained in the morning before treatments began, and in the evening after, the final patient had been treated. Specific attention was directed toward recovery of S. aureus, P. aeruginosa, and E. coli, organisms felt to be especially dangerous for the diabetic dysvascular patients utilizing the hydrotherapeutic tanks involved in this study. Only eleven of 96 cultures (11.5%) were positive for these prospective pathogens. Of the positive cultures, nine (9.4%) were taken from near the agitator-jet, and only two (2.1%) from the floor of the hydrotherapeutic tanks, where the extremity is likely to be placed. Our results reveal that hydrotherapeutic immersion is not likely to expose patients with open wounds to potential iatrogenic contamination of the wound.