Editor's Note In this study, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) had a greater risk of transmission in the OR than methicillin-sensitive S aureus. Researchers collected 173 S aureus isolates from 274 randomly selected ORs (first and second cases of the day in each OR) at three hospitals. The isolates underwent systematic-phenotypic…

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Editor's Note Implementation of stringent OR attire policies that included full coverage of ears and facial hair did not reduce surgical site infection (SSI) risks in this study. Researchers compared American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program data of all patients undergoing surgical procedures 9 months before implementation…

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Editor's Note Inadequate reprocessing and insufficient drying contributed to retained fluid and contamination found inside flexible endoscopes in this study led by noted epidemiologist Cori L. Ofstead. Of 45 endoscopes analyzed at 3 hospitals, fluid was detected in 49%, and the prevalence of moisture varied significantly by site (5%, 83%,…

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Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on April 18 alerted healthcare providers and facilities about the risk of cross-contamination with 24-hour, multipatient use connectors used in gastrointestinal (GI) endoscopy. Endoscope connectors are small accessories used to connect the auxiliary water channel to a water source and irrigation tubing.…

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Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on April 10 notified healthcare facilities that Custom Ultrasonics (Ivyland, Pennsylvania) has completed validation testing of the System 83 Plus (ie, System 83 Plus, System 83 Plus 2, and System 83 Plus 9) automated endoscope reprocessors (AERs) with specific duodenoscopes. The FDA…

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Editor's Note Patients at Porter Adventist Hospital in Denver may be at risk for HIV or hepatitis after the hospital discovered a surgical instrument sterilization breach, the April 5 LiveScience reports. The process for precleaning surgical instruments was found to be inadequate, which may have put patients who had orthopedic…

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Editor's Note Movement in the OR is associated with microbial load, this study finds. Researchers determined areas in the OR with high and low numbers of people in transit and placed air samplers and settle plates in representative locations during 21 surgical procedures, in four ORs, during two seasons of…

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Improving teamwork between OR and sterile processing department (SPD) staff is an obvious way to increase the safety and efficiency of surgical procedures, but getting everyone on the same page can be challenging. Often the staff have limited understanding of what takes place in each respective department. Firsthand observation has…

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Editor's Note The Food & Drug Administration (FDA) on March 9 issued warning letters to all three duodenoscope manufacturers for failing to comply with federal requirements to conduct postmarket surveillance studies to assess the effectiveness of reprocessing their devices. Olympus failed to start data collection, and Pentax and Fujifilm failed…

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Editor's Note The Food & Drug Administration, Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), American Society for Microbiology, along with other experts on February 26 released voluntary standardized protocols for duodenoscope surveillance sampling and culturing, which update a 2015 CDC interim protocol. For facilities that choose to implement duodenoscope surveillance…

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