ArticleHand (New York, N.Y.)2026
Airborne Bacterial Deposition Onto Surgical Sites Under Operating Room Versus Field Sterility: A Passive Air Sampling Study Across 3 Surgical Environments.
Article in Hand (New York, N.Y.), 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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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.
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Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
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Abstract
backgroundAirborne microbial contamination contributes to surgical site infections. While operating rooms (ORs) use specialized ventilation, many minor procedures are now performed outside the main suite using field sterility. This study compared airborne bacterial deposition across 3 clinical settings with differing sterility protocols.
methodsAn observational environmental sampling study was conducted in a minor procedures room, a day surgery suite, and a main OR. Minor procedures and day surgery used identical field-sterility draping; the OR used full sterile draping. On each sampling day, 15 blood agar settle plates were exposed in 3 sequential 1-hour intervals (5 plates/hour) on a tray 1 m above the floor and 1 m from the operative field, following index of microbial air contamination principles. After 24-hour incubation at 37 °C, colony-forming units (CFUs) were counted (n = 180 total; 60 per environment). Mean CFU counts were compared using 1-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) with Tukey post hoc testing.
resultsOverall differences in mean CFU counts across the 3 environments were statistically significant (1-way ANOVA,
conclusionsAirborne microbial deposition differed significantly across environments, lowest in the OR and highest in the minor procedures room. Despite identical field-sterility draping in minor procedures and day surgery, contamination levels varied, suggesting environmental factors beyond draping influence microbial burden and should be considered when evaluating procedural environments.
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