What is the effect of reducing the air change rate on the ventilation effectiveness in ultra-clean operating rooms?

Background<br/>The operating room (OR) department is one of the most energy-intensive departments of a hospital. The majority of ORs in the Netherlands have an air-handling installation with an ultra-clean ventilation system. However, not all surgeries require an ultra-clean OR.<br/><br/>Aim<br/>To determine the effect of reducing the air change...

Air quality in the periphery of operating rooms during surgery

Ultra-clean ventilation systems are used in the operating room (OR) to reduce the quantity of airborne bacteria in the ultra-clean area, and reduce the incidence of surgical site infections (SSIs). When the number of colony-forming units (CFUs) in the ultra-clean (protected) area is too high, this is considered a risk factor for SSIs.

Capital and operational expenditures of different operating room air-handling installations with conventional or ultra-clean air supply systems

When making a decision on the operating room air handling installation and type of air supply system, it is relevant to know the expenditures of the different air handling installations and air supply systems. The aim of this study was to determine the capital and operational expenditures of air handling installations equipped with an ultra...

Corrigendum to ‘Operating room ventilation systems Recovery Degree, Cleanliness Recovery Rate and Air Change Effectiveness in an ultra-clean area’: [J Hosp Infect 122 (2022) 115-125, (S019567012100459X), (10.1016/j.jhin.2021.12.018)]

The authors regret that they have missed during the review process that the legend belonging to figure 6a, 6b, 6c and 6d is not shown. It is necessary to show the legenda otherwise the readers cannot interpret the graphs. Apologies that we missed it during the review process of the article. The legend belonging to figure 6 is:[Formula...

Operating room ventilation systems: recovery degree, cleanliness recovery rate and air change effectiveness in an ultra-clean area

Background: Entrainment test methods are described in most European standards and guidelines to determine the protected area for ultra-clean ventilation (UCV) systems. New UCV systems, such as temperature-controlled airflow (TcAF) and controlled dilution ventilation (cDV) systems, claim the whole operating room (OR) to be ultra-clean. However,...