ArticlePlastic and reconstructive surgery. Global open2019
Evidence-based Sterility: The Evolving Role of Field Sterility in Skin and Minor Hand Surgery.
Article in Plastic and reconstructive surgery. Global open, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 33 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
33 citing papers in PubMed.
- Airborne Bacterial Deposition Onto Surgical Sites Under Operating Room Versus Field Sterility: A Passive Air Sampling Study Across 3 Surgical Environments.Hand (New York, N.Y.) · 2026Article
- Lean and Green Hand Surgery in the Office: Does It Work?Journal of hand surgery global online · 2026Article
- What's New in Wide-Awake Local Anesthesia No Tourniquet (WALANT) Hand Surgery?Journal of hand surgery global online · 2026Review
- Surgeons Can Decrease the Pain of WALANT Local Anesthesia Injection if They Ask for Patient Feedback.Plastic surgery (Oakville, Ont.) · 2026Article
- The (Hidden) World of Wide-awake Office Surgery.Plastic and reconstructive surgery. Global open · 2026Article
- Companian Editorial Letter.Journal of hand and microsurgery · 2026Article
- Greening Hand Surgery: Targeted Measures to Reduce Waste in Ambulatory Trigger Finger and Carpal Tunnel Decompression.Hand (New York, N.Y.) · 2025Article
- How to Start WALANT Procedure Room Surgery Like Ghana to Improve Access and Affordability.Plastic and reconstructive surgery. Global open · 2025Article
- From wide awake surgery to office surgery.Journal of hand and microsurgery · 2025Article
- WALANT Decreases Costs of Surgery to Increase Access and Help Alleviate Poverty in East Africa.Plastic and reconstructive surgery. Global open · 2025Article
- Main Operating Room Versus Field Sterility in Hand Surgery: A Review of the Evidence.Plastic surgery (Oakville, Ont.) · 2024Article
- Caps, masks, aprons, and gloves - necessary evils?Indian journal of thoracic and cardiovascular surgery · 2024Article
- WALANT surgery of the hand: state of the art.EFORT open reviews · 2024Review
- Current Trends in Use of Epinephrine in Hand Surgery.Hand (New York, N.Y.) · 2024Article
- Tips, Tricks, and Pearls for a Superior Patient and Surgeon Experience for Wide-awake Dupuytren Surgery.Plastic and reconstructive surgery. Global open · 2024Article
- Successful Shoulder Disarticulation under Local Anesthesia in the COVID-19 Era.Plastic and reconstructive surgery. Global open · 2023Article
- How Ophthalmologists Can Decarbonize Eye Care: A Review of Existing Sustainability Strategies and Steps Ophthalmologists Can Take.Ophthalmology · 2023Review
- Discussion: Successful Use of WALANT in Local and Regional Soft Tissue Flaps: A Case Series.Plastic and reconstructive surgery. Global open · 2023Article
- Gut Microbiota and Liver Transplantation: Immune Mechanisms behind the Rejection.Biomedicines · 2023Review
- Wide-Awake Hand Surgery Has Its Benefits: A Study of 1,011 Patients.Journal of hand surgery global online · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Field sterility is commonly used for skin and minor hand surgery performed in the ambulatory setting. Surgical site infection (SSI) rates are similar for these same procedures when performed in the main operating room (OR). In this paper, we aim to look at both current evidence and common sense logic supporting the use of some of the techniques and apparel designed to prevent SSI. This is a literature review of the evidence behind the ability of gloves, masks, gowns, drapes, head covers, footwear, and ventilation systems to prevent SSIs. We used MEDLINE, EMBASE, and PubMed and included literature from the inception of each database up to March 2019. We could not find substantial evidence to support the use of main OR sterility practices such as head covers, gowns, full patient draping, laminar airflow, and footwear to reduce SSIs in skin and minor hand surgery. Field sterility in ambulatory minor procedure rooms outside the main OR is appropriate for most skin and minor hand surgery procedures. SSIs in these procedures are easily treatable with minimal patient morbidity and do not justify the cost and waste associated with the use of main OR sterility.
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.