Prevalence of bacterial burden on macroscopic contaminants of orthopaedic surgical instruments following sterilization

The Surgical Instrument Sterilization Process

“…Bone fragments and blood on surgical instruments have grown bacterial colonies after undergoing sterilization 2,36 . However, the risk of positive cultures may be low; Wellington et al found that 97% of macroscopic contaminants of orthopaedic surgical instruments were culture-negative 39 . Thirty-three contaminants including bone, bone cement, hair, metal debris, suture, dried blood, and water were collected predominately from cannulated drills and surgical trays.…”

“…The safest practice when bioburden is discovered in a surgical tray is to remove the contaminated items/tray from the OR. However, the low risk of positive cultures provides reassurance that the risk of SSI is likely not to be substantially increased if an instrument or tray used during a procedure is later found to have a contaminant 39 .…”