Hygienic practices of consultant anaesthetists: a survey in the North‐West region of the UK

Abstract

SummaryQuestionnaires were distributed to all 213 consultant anaesthetists in the North-West region of the UK with a response rate of 68%. These questionnaires were designed to assess the hygienic precautions taken to reduce the potential for transmission of infectious agents to and from the patients under their care. Face masks and gloves were always used by 35.2% and 14.5%, respectively, while only 36.4% washed their hands between cases. Most respondents have changed their practice since the recognition of HIV transmission (74.8%) and hepatitis B and C (69.8%). A high proportion of anaesthetists continue to administer anaesthesia despite suffering from respiratory (94%), gastrointestinal (42.9%) or herpes simplex (32.6%) infections. The anaesthetic breathing system was changed at the end of each day or following a high-risk case by 33.3% of the respondents, while just over 25% changed it following a known infected case. Bacterial filters were used by 17% and changed after each case by 7.2%. On a scale of 0-10 (10 ¼ significant) anaesthetists rated their potential for transmitting or contributing to patient infection as a median of 3 (interquartile range: 2-6). The results of this study show that, although anaesthetists are well aware of proper hygienic practices, their performance falls short of accepted recommendations.

Profile of anesthetic infection control in Taiwan: a questionnaire report

“…One 1995 study [27] reported that only 58% of practicing anesthesiologists always washed their hands after contact with patients considered qlow riskq for HIV or HCV infection. A 1999 study [28] showed that only 14.5% of anesthesia providers always wear gloves and that only 36.4% wash their hands between cases [28]. The present study showed higher percentages: 52.6% of anesthesiologists and 70% of nurse anesthetists reported frequently or always washing their hands, and 65.3% and 82%, respectively, reported wearing gloves during anesthesia, but there were still 12.7% and 12% differences between handwashing and glove-wearing practices.…”

Anaesthetic drug administration as a potential contributor to healthcare-associated infections: a prospective simulation-based evaluation of aseptic techniques in the administration of anaesthetic drugs

“…The next step is to evaluate the extent to which our findings apply in clinical practice; the development and evaluation of interventions to reduce the risk of infection to patients from administering intravenous drugs during anaesthesia may then be appropriate. Interestingly, it has been shown previously that although most anaesthetists are aware of the need for aseptic techniques, many do not follow existing guidelines:25 55 56 our data may provide encouragement for doing so.…”

Microbial contamination and labelling of self-prepared, multi-dose phenylephrine solutions used at a teaching hospital

“…[14][15][16][17] A matter of particular concern is the infection risk due to unsafe injection practices that are associated with the use of single-dose vials for multiple patients [18][19][20] and the use of multi-dose vials. [6][7][8][9] International guidelines on preventing contamination of anaesthetic-associated medication 21,22 clearly state that preservative-free vials are single-patient, single-dose items.…”