Operation theatre environment contamination during fracture repair in dogs- A clinical study

Intramedullary pinning was performed in eight fracture cases of femur (4) and humerus (4) in dogs. Bacteriological samples from fractured ends of bone and muscles, operation theatre environment and ‘sample stitches’ were collected. A significant (10.25 times) increase in the bacterial count on the bone and surrounding muscles was observed in 21.5±1.1 min, at the end of operative procedure. The settle plate count also increased significantly to 9.52 times in 20 min exposure to operation theatre environment. Organisms isolated from operation theatre air were. Bacillus spp. Staphylococcus spp., Staphylococcus aureus, Kkbhsiella spp., Proteus spp., E. coli and yeast. Usually, similar organisms were also found on the surgical wound, just before the closure of incision. Post-operatively ‘sample stitches’ helped in detecting type of infection present at the wound sites. Surgical wounds healed uneventfully in all the dogs. Operation theatre air happened to be the main source of orthopaedic wound contamination.