Abstract
A prospective controlled trial was carried out to assess the effect of using a wound isolator on reducing postoperative infection. A total of 291 patients undergoing hip pinning for fractures of the neck of femur entered the trial and were allocated at random to have their wound contained in a wound isolator (study group) or dressed with a standard gamma-irradiated adhesive dressing (control group). The bacteriological flora of the patient was monitored before, during, and after operation and that of the ward before and after. No significant difference was found in the flora of the wards in which the patients were nursed. On several occasions the source of the infective organism was traced to the ward but never to the theatre. The isolator prevented direct contamination and airborne cross-infection of the wound and appreciably reduced the rate of infection.
Full text
PDF
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Charnley J., Eftekhar N. Postoperative infection in total prosthetic replacement arthroplasty of the hip-joint. With special reference to the bacterial content of the air of the operating room. Br J Surg. 1969 Sep;56(9):641–649. doi: 10.1002/bjs.1800560902. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- McLauchlan J., Logie J. R., Smylie H. G. The role of clean air in wound infection acquired during operation. Surg Gynecol Obstet. 1976 Jul;143(1):6–8. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- McLauchlan J., Pilcher M. F., Trexler P. C., Whalley R. C. The surgical isolator. Br Med J. 1974 Feb 23;1(5903):322–324. doi: 10.1136/bmj.1.5903.322. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- McLaughlan J., Scotland A. D., Trexler P. C. Sterile microenvironment for postoperative wound care. Lancet. 1978 Sep 2;2(8088):503–503. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(78)92223-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]