PURPOSE

Surfaces of supports used to position patients for hip replacement are usually are in direct contact with the patient skin around the groin/buttock areas & repeated use of same supports, in trauma & elective surgeries, can be a source of cross-infection & wound contamination.

MATERIALS AND RESULTS

Swab samples from 12 supports, employed interchangeably for elective & trauma surgery. Cultured & incubated at 37 0 C in Columbia Blood Agar. 2 random supports cleaned using Sani Cloth Detergent non-alcoholic wipes & 2 samples were obtained from each support, 5 min later.

71% sampled supports were contaminated, with Coagulase-negative Staphylococcus, including Staph Epidermidis, being the most commonly grown organism with average of 5.3 colony forming units (CFU) (0-38) per swab. 5 min after cleaning 2 of above supports there was a 100% reduction in their contamination with no growth from the 4 swabs.