|
Clean Instruments
- An estimated 234 million surgical procedures are performed worldwide in operating rooms every year
- Approximately 46,500,000 surgical procedures are performed annually in the United States
- During each surgical procedure, surgical instruments come into contact with sterile tissue of the patient
- If surgical instruments are not sterile, microorganisms may be introduced into the wound, and in some instances, may result in an infection
- An even larger number of invasive medical procedures are performed each year. As an example, more than 10 million gastrointestinal endoscopy procedures are performed each year in the United States
- Invasive medical procedures can also contaminate a patient’s sterile tissues or mucous membranes if instruments used in the procedure are not free of pathogens
- As a result, effective disinfection and sterilization of instruments is an essential element of any effective infection control program
- For another resource on instrument disinfection and sterilization, see disinfectionandsterilization.org.
|
|
|
