By Michael Vlessides
Originally published by our sister publication, Anesthesiology News
Research has identified an unexpected source of airborne microbial contamination in the operating room (OR)—the Neptune (Stryker) surgical suction system or the Bair Hugger (3M) forced-air warming device, both of which discharge exhaust into the OR environment.
These sources of contamination, the researchers noted, may be mitigated by changing the devices’ HEPA filters more regularly, or adding a