Study identifies high touch OR surfaces and their levels of contamination

Editor's Note

This study from the University of Colorado Hospital, Aurora, identifies the most frequently touched surfaces in the OR and their level of contamination.

The top high touch surface was the anesthesia computer mouse, followed by the OR table, nurse computer mouse, OR door, and anesthesia cart.

Using the OR light as a control, results showed that a low touch surface was less contaminated than the high touch surfaces, except for the OR table.

The authors note that the OR was not included in the 2010 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s list of hospital high touch areas to clean. They recommend that an OR cleaning protocol be established based on the study’s findings.