Articles and resources regarding perioperative attire (including head coverings) and infection risks

The topic of head coverings  for operating theatre staff has garnered much attention in recent years for a number of reasons. These include:

  • Hospital policies banning the use of cloth caps (for infection control reasons)  impeding the take up and effectiveness of the “Theatre Cap Challenge”
  • A controversial policy in the USA mandating a particular style of theatre cap over that preferred by many surgeons
  • Increasing concerns about the environmental impact of healthcare, and a desire to shift away from single use to reusable items with a move towards cloth theatre caps being part of that
  • Covid related shortages forcing some hospitals to go back to reusable caps and gowns where previously they’d mandated disposable versions.

This has prompted a lot of research and debate, and i thought it would be helpful to collate some of the articles for easy reference/access. Below are number links to each article, with the full reference list at the bottom. I will continue to add more references as I come across them.

Discussions, reviews, editorials etc

This is a blog post I wrote looking at the references cited in the ACORN standards regarding head coverings.

 

A review and discussion of the topic of perioperative attire. Includes reference to two studies showing naked staff contaminate theatres less than clothed staff!

 

Editorial looking at the infection control concerns compared with the benefits of having staff names and roles on head coverings

 

This is the joint statement put out by the American College of Surgeons, the American Society of Anesthesiologists, the Association of peri-Operative Registered Nurses , the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, the Association of Surgical Technologists, and the Council on Surgical and Perioperative Safety after they finally all got together to discuss head coverings

 

Review article looking at a variety of “specialised garments” intended to reduce sugical site infections, including head coverings.

 

A review looking at a variety of physical and environmental interventions, including head coverings, to reduce surgical site infections.

 

Before-and-After studies following mandated changes to head coverings +/- other aspects of perioperative attire.

Study based on prospectively collected NSQIP data following introduction of AORN Guidelines on head coverings.

 

Another study utilising NSQIP data, this time specifically looking at abdominal surgery following mandating of long sleeve jackets and bouffant head coverings.

 

Yet another NSQIP based study looking at surgical site infections after mandated change to bouffant head coverings.

 

Before-and-study following the change from “skull caps” to “bouffant caps”, specifically within the neurosurgical setting.

 

As well  as surgical site infections this study also includes data on the financial cost of implementing the AORN Guidelines.

 

Before-and-after study looking at surgical site infections following mandating use of disposable jackets and bouffant-style head coverings. Also includes data on the financial cost of the change.

Other studies related to the “Bouffant Scandal”

Comparison of surgeons head covering preferences with incidence of hernia surgical site infections recorded in a prospectively collected database.

 

Re-analysis of data from a previous randomised controlled trial looking at surgical site infections, and comparing it to surgeon theatre cap preference.

 

Microbiological studies assessing factors influencing bacterial shedding, dispersal, contamination etc.

Quantitative study of disposable and cloth head coverings and their impact on various markers of operating theatre contamination.

 

Assessing individual variation in shedding of Staphylococcus aureus and the impact of clothing. This is one of the two studies mentioned above that found less bacteria is shed when naked compared to clothed!

 

Another study showing that bacterial dispersal is less when naked than when clothed!

 

Looking at the effect of head coverings on airborne contamination.

 

Microbiological study looking at the effect of perioperative attire, including head coverings, on air and surface contamination in conventional and laminar flow operating theatres.

 

Assessment of a number of combinations of “surgical garb”, including a variety of different head coverings, including the impact of using hairspray!

Miscellaneous

Before-and-after study looking at surgical site infections after they switched from disposable head coverings, shoe covers, and masks to reusable items due to covid induced shortages.

 

 

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Zippel, C., Börgers, A., Weitzel, A. & Bohnet-Joschko, S. Many critical incidents could be avoided by preanaesthesia equipment checks: Lessons for high reliability organisations. European Journal of Anaesthesiology 31, 289–291 (2014).
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Zippel, C., Borgers, A., Weitzel, A. & Bohnet-Joschko, S. Many critical incidents could be avoided by preanaesthesia equipment checks: Lessons for high reliability organisations.  [Letter]. Journal of Anaesthesiology 31, 289–291 (2014).
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Cassidy, C. J., Smith, A. & Arnot‐Smith, J. Critical incident reports concerning anaesthetic equipment: analysis of the UK National Reporting and Learning System (NRLS) data from 2006–2008*. Anaesthesia 66, 879–888 (2011).
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Bourgain, J. L., Coisel, Y., Kern, D., Nouette-Gaulain, K. & Panczer, M. What are the main “machine dysfunctions” to know? Annales Françaises d’Anesthésie et de Réanimation 33, 466–471 (2014).
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Merry, A. F., Shipp, D. H. & Lowinger, J. S. The contribution of labelling to safe medication administration in anaesthetic practice. Best Practice & Research Clinical Anaesthesiology 25, 145–159 (2011).
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Shultz, J. et al. Standardizing anesthesia medication drawers using human factors and quality assurance methods. Canadian Journal of Anesthesia/Journal canadien d’anesthésie 57, 490–499 (2010).
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Muschara, T. Critical Steps: How to Identify and Manage the Most Important Human Performance Risks in Operations. Performance Improvement 53, 11–21 (2014).
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Keijzer, C., Perez, R. S. G. M. & de Lange, J. J. Compound A and carbon monoxide production from sevoflurane and seven different types of carbon dioxide absorbent in a patient model. Acta Anaesthesiologica Scandinavica 51, 31–37 (2007).
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Saito, M. Brown Adipose Tissue as a Regulator of Energy Expenditure and Body Fat in Humans. Diabetes & Metabolism Journal 37, 22 (2013).
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Catchpole, K., Bell, M. D. D. & Johnson, S. Safety in anaesthesia: a study of 12 606 reported incidents from the UK National Reporting and Learning System. Anaesthesia 63, 340–346 (2008).
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Kothari, D. & Agrawal, J. Colour-coded syringe labels: a modification to enhance patient safety. British Journal of Anaesthesia 110, 1056–1058 (2013).
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Furniss, D., Dean Franklin, B. & Blandford, A. The devil is in the detail: How a closed-loop documentation system for IV infusion administration contributes to and compromises patient safety. Health Informatics Journal 146045821983957 (2019) http://doi.org/10.1177/1460458219839574.
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Standards Association of Australia & Standards New Zealand. User-applied labels for use on syringes containing drugs used during anaesthesia. (Standards Australia ; Standards New Zealand, 1996).
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Dellamonica, J., Boisseau, N., Goubaux, B. & Raucoules-Aimé, M. Comparison of manufacturers’ specifications for 44 types of heat and moisture exchanging filters. British Journal of Anaesthesia 93, 532–539 (2004).
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Wears, R. L. & Hettinger, A. Z. The Tragedy of Adaptability. Annals of Emergency Medicine 63, 338–339 (2014).
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Webster, C. S., Merry, A. F., Larsson, L., McGrath, K. A. & Weller, J. The Frequency and Nature of Drug Administration Error during Anaesthesia. Anaesthesia and Intensive Care 29, 494–500 (2001).
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Shultz, J. et al. Standardizing anesthesia medication drawers using human factors and quality assurance methods. Canadian Journal of Anesthesia/Journal canadien d’anesthésie 57, 490–499 (2010).
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Mostert, L. & R Coetzee, A. Central oxygen pipeline failure. Southern African Journal of Anaesthesia and Analgesia 20, 214–217 (2014).
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Schumacher, S. D., Brockwell, R. C., Andrews, J. J. & Ogles, D. Bulk Liquid Oxygen Supply Failure. Anesthes 100, 186–189 (2004).
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Wilkes, A. R. Measuring the filtration performance of breathing system filters using sodium chloride particles. 7 (2002).
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Asai, T., Matsumoto, S. & Shingu, K. Incidence of blood-borne infectious micro-organisms: would you still not wear gloves? Anaesthesia 55, 591–592 (2000).
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Reusable, Customised, Theatre Cap Suppliers

There is currently a big push towards the use of reusable, cloth theatre caps instead of disposable versions, driven partly by discussions around environmental sustainability, but also because cloth caps are the most effective way to display your name and role to improve communication and teamwork (AKA Theatre Cap Challenge. See video here“).

This website is my attempt to provide a list of retailers were you can purchase personalised cloth hats. It is likely incomplete, and i will review it periodiciallty, but apologies if any of the links no longer work

Customisable Cloth Hats

For some of the sites, the customise option is shown once you select a specific hat.

Theatre Caps: https://theatrecaps.com/collections/caps

Hunter Scrubs: https://hunter-scrubs.gorgias.help/en-US/articles/embroidery-&-customisation-86759

Mum Made Scrub Hats: https://www.mummadescrubhats.com.au/embroidery

Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists: https://shop.ranzcog.edu.au/products/personalised-theatre-caps

KimCaps: https://kimkaps.com/

Infectious: https://www.infectious.com.au/collections/scrub-hats-and-caps

Scrub’d Up: https://www.scrubdup.com/embroidered-scrub-caps

Tims Hats: https://www.facebook.com/TimsHats.1

Comfy Caps: https://www.comfycaps.com/custom-caps

Skrub Hedz: https://skrubhedz.square.site/embroidery

Medicus: https://medicuscaps.com/en-au/products/personalised-scrub-caps-with-embroidery

Etsy have a large range available that changes quite frequently, so rather than trying to list them all,  this link will take you to a Search using “Personalised Scrub Caps”.

 

 

Fresh Gas Flows, Filters, HMEs and Humidification

I recently submitted a “Letter to the Editor” of the BJA in response to the clever study by Zhong and colleagues demonstrating that the use of high fresh gas flows (FGF) during TIVA produces a cost-saving with, importantly, no adverse environmental consequences. My letter was responding to their conclusion regarding the impact of high FGFs on humidification of inhaled gases, and specifically the issue of heat and moisture exchangers (HMEs).

The letter was edited and shortened significantly during the review process, so much so that I felt some important discussion around a commonly misunderstood device was missing. The published letter is now available here,  but I felt it might be helpful to make the full text of the original letter (with some minor corrections) publicly available, so I have presented it below.

Continue reading “Fresh Gas Flows, Filters, HMEs and Humidification”

Dirty Doors and A-maze-ing Entryways

In recent years, I’ve developed an interest in design, and in particular how both good and bad design impact humans. One outcome of that newfound interest was a Twitter account, @DunnyDesign. You can read a bit about it here, but it essentially documents and considers various aspects of toilet and bathroom design that I come across in daily life.

Probably the first aspect relating to toilets design that made me sit up and take notice, and was likely the impetus behind @DunnyDesign, was when I noticed that public toilets, especially those on large commercial premises such as shopping centres and cinema complexes, had slowly but surely transitioned from a “double door” entry to, what I refer to as, a “maze” entry. Continue reading “Dirty Doors and A-maze-ing Entryways”

Sugammadex FDA Review Documents

I was recently clearing out my “Downloads” folder (which had got way out of hand!), and while doing so I found a document I’d downloaded in July 2019 when I was looking into the light-sensitivity of sugammadex. It was part of an FDA review into the drug when it was being considered for approval in the United States. It just so happened this discovery came in the middle of a Twitter discussion on the potential for sugammadex to cause, amongst other things, anaphylaxis. Continue reading “Sugammadex FDA Review Documents”

Juno Pre-filled Syringes

Juno recently released a TGA-approved pre-filled syringe containing metaraminol. However, not long after release, multiple issues were identified by anaesthetists who were using them. There was a fair bit of discussion and sharing of information and experiences on Twitter, and many anaesthetists have stopped using them, and some hospitals have now withdrawn them. Several people have contacted me regarding the syringes, and I thought I would aggregate some of the information I’ve collected in one place to make it easy for people to access it if they want to.

Continue reading “Juno Pre-filled Syringes”

Dunny Design

The fact that my emerging interest in Human Factors/Ergonomics and design (see here) coincided to a large degree with me having to spend a lot of time in toilets due to colitis (see here), has meant I’ve developed a, some would say “unhealthy”, obsession fascination interest in the way toilets and bathrooms are designed. It basically means that every time I go into a toilet or a bathroom, I’m paying more attention to what’s around me than I used to. This will include observing things such as taps, sinks, doors, locks, signage, layout (pretty much everything really!), and thinking about the potential impacts, both positive and negative, that these “99% invisible” features have on aspects of life such as personal hygiene, public health, privacy, accessibility, usability, aesthetics and so on.

Continue reading “Dunny Design”

Progress Notes-By System

This post outlines my medical history organised by system, since being diagnosed with advanced melanoma in October 2013. To see my medical history organised chronologically, see this post here. It remains a work in progress as new issues arise, and as I go back through my records and find things I’d overlooked.

Continue reading “Progress Notes-By System”

Sorting the #DudScrubs Laundry

This is where I’ll be picking my way through all the dirty #DudScrubs laundry. Tighten those side-ties, because there’s a lot to get through!

For an explanation of what #DudScrubs is all about, read my more detailed post on it here.

Below I’ve started organising the various tweets into different categories to make them easier to find, and because different aspects may be of more interest or importance to different people. But I think it is the overall picture that makes the case for change so compelling, and that hospitals need to sit up, take notice, and start asking their staff what they can do to make their scrub provisioning system more fit-for-purpose. Continue reading “Sorting the #DudScrubs Laundry”

HBC Big Ideas Night: Euthanasia

Back in 2018, my church ran one of their Big Ideas Nights on the topic of euthanasia and assisted suicide. I gave a presentation at that meeting discussing my background and some thoughts I had on the idea of suffering and euthanasia drawing from my own experience. Below is the transcript, and slides, from that presentation.

Continue reading “HBC Big Ideas Night: Euthanasia”