The critical relationship between airborne microbiological contamination in an operating theatre and surgical site infection (SSI) is well known. The aim of this annotation is to explain the scientific basis of using settle plates to audit the quality of air, and to provide information about the practicalities of using them for the purposes of clinical audit. The microbiological quality of the air in most guidance is defined by volumetric sampling, but this method is difficult for surgical departments to use on a routine basis. Settle plate sampling, which mimics the mechanism of deposition of airborne microbes onto open wounds and sterile instruments, is a good alternative method of assessing the quality of the air. Current practice is not to sample the air in an operating theatre during surgery, but to rely on testing the engineering systems which deliver the clean air. This is, however, not good practice and microbiological testing should be carried out routinely during operations as part of clinical audit.

中文翻译：

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审核手术室空气的微生物质量。


手术室空气微生物污染与手术部位感染 (SSI) 之间的重要关系是众所周知的。本注释的目的是解释使用沉降板审核空气质量的科学依据，并提供有关使用它们进行临床审核的实用性的信息。大多数指南中的空气微生物质量是通过体积采样来定义的，但这种方法对于外科部门来说很难常规使用。沉降板采样模拟空气中的微生物在开放性伤口和无菌器械上沉积的机制，是评估空气质量的一种很好的替代方法。目前的做法不是在手术期间对手术室的空气进行采样，而是依靠测试提供清洁空气的工程系统。然而，这并不是好的做法，微生物检测应在操作过程中作为临床审核的一部分定期进行。