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A N E S T H E S I A
&
I N F E C T I O N S
equipment that you marshal
toward the patient is a potential
source of pathogenic material.
5. Double glove. One of the really
treacherous periods is during the
initial airway manipulation. There
is a real opportunity for gross contamination of the hands, with
secretions that end up on your
hands. Once you've finished the
major portion of the airway
manipulation, resist the tendency
to immediately reach back and
adjust the equipment. First,
remove your gloves. That way
you're not going to carry gross
material back to the anesthesia
machine.
DESIGN ISSUE
Stopcocks, which
are the gateway to
central circulation,
are extremely
difficult to sterilize.
Impossible dream?
Is it even possible for anesthesia providers to maintain aseptic environments? Anesthesia providers with little time and multiple responsibilities between cases are bound to find the prospect of trying to disinfect their workstations daunting. That person has to draw the drugs
up for the new patient, see the new patient, prepare the new workstation by retrieving a new circuit and get everything else ready. I don't
think I'm out on a limb when I say my guess is not everybody is as
thorough as you'd like in attempting disinfecting. OSM
Mr. Biddle (cbiddle@hsc.vcu.edu) is a professor and staff anesthetist at
Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center in Richmond.
O C T O B E R 2013 | O U T PAT I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E O N L I N E
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