| Infection control is an important factor in all areas of clinical practice. It has been estimated that each year 1.7 million hospitalized patients in the United States contract nosocomial infections at a cost of approximately 7--27 billion dollars.1,2 The spread of human immunodeficiency virus, hepatitis, tuberculosis and drug resistant bacteria not only put the patients at risk but also the anesthetist. With the quick turn overs between surgical cases, recommended cleaning procedures are not always followed. When strict aseptic technique is not followed, anesthesia providers may potentially harbor pathogenic organisms on all surfaces they interact with including the anesthesia machine.3 The anesthesia machine adjustable pressure limiting (APL) valve was chosen for sampling. At least thirty rooms that had a least one general anesthetic case were chosen for each intervention group. The APL valve was swabbed at the beginning of the day and one minute after 70% isopropyl alcohol, germicidal detergent or non-disinfectant treatment. The swabs were streaked onto tryptic soy agar plates. Following incubation for twenty-six hours, the number bacterial colonies was counted. There was a significant decrease in colony forming units (CFUs) in all three treatment groups. We found no significant difference between cleansing the machine with 70% isopropyl alcohol and cleansing with a germicidal detergent. We concluded that both cleaning with 70% isopropyl alcohol wipes and cleaning with germicidal detergent wipes are effective methods of reducing bacterial contamination on the anesthesia machine. |
