Letter to Editor: Operating Room Traffic is a Major Concern During Total Joint Arthroplasty

To the Editor:

We read with interest the article by Panahi et al. entitled “Operating room traffic is a major concern during total joint arthroplasty” [1], and would like to make the following points.

Panahi et al. reported the incidence of door opening in their operating theatre in primary and revision joint replacements. We believe they should have reported the occurrences of door opening during each of the primary and revision hip and knee surgeries separately. This would have clarified the rates of door opening during hip and knee replacements in primary and revision cases. Were the incidences of door opening related to the surgical team operating on a particular day?

They also should clarify the training grade and knowledge of the observers recording the data. As 47% of door openings were unaccounted for, we are not sure if the observers could appreciate the true reason in every case when they noticed someone coming into operating theater without an apparent reason.

We think this is a good study that reflects a real issue in our daily practice; however, it would be helpful if the authors clarified the above points.