Evaluation of the practice of reprocessing ORs in German hospitals from an infection prevention and control perspective

TL;DR

This study evaluates how German hospitals clean operating rooms after surgeries, focusing on infection control practices and identifying areas for improvement.

Contribution

The study provides new insights into the current practices and gaps in infection prevention and control during operating room reprocessing in German hospitals.

Findings

78% of hospitals had written hygiene plans for operating room cleaning.

55% of hospitals waited until surfaces were dry before reusing ORs after septic patients, aligning with national recommendations.

Postoperative monitoring of patients with special IPC requirements was most commonly done in the OR and ICU.

Abstract

The aim of this study was to analyze the cleaning and disinfection of operating rooms (ORs) status quo focusing on hygiene plans in German hospitals.

In 2016, a structured online survey was sent to infection prevention and control (IPC) specialists at the cost calculation hospitals of the Institute for the Hospital Remuneration System (InEK) and all university hospitals in Germany (n = 365).

With a response rate of 27.4%, 78% stated that written hygiene plans were available. After cleaning and disinfecting an OR with a “septic” patient, 55% waited until surfaces were dry before reusing in accordance with national recommendations, 27% waited > 30 min. Additionally, 28% of hospitals had ORs only for “septic” patients. In 56% “septic” patients were only operated on at the end of the program. Postoperative monitoring of patients with bacteria with special IPC requirements took place in the post anesthesia care unit (PACU) (29%), operating room (OR) (52%), intensive care unit (ICU) (53%), and in the intermediate care unit (IMC) (19%).

Despite written hygiene plans in place the partly long duration of OR nonuse time following IPC measures, the consistent continued use of stratification for “septic” patients and the postoperative follow-up care of patients with colonizing/infecting bacteria with special IPC requirements in the OR and high care areas represent relevant potential for improvement.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s15010-024-02303-z.

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