The Effect of Proper Hand Washing of Surgical Technologists on the Reduction of Surgical Site Infections

Background: The inadvertent transfer of micro-organisms such as bacteria to a patient's wound site during surgery can result in a wound infection that is commonly called a surgical site infection (SSI). SSIS are a major issue in health care worldwide, accounting for approximately ۱۶% of all health care associated infections in England and an estimated ۲۴% in the United States and one of the most common forms of health care-associated infections for surgical patients. Around ۱ in ۲۰ surgical patients develop an SSI in hospital, and this proportion rises when people go home. SSIs result in delayed wound healing, increased hospital stays, increased use of antibiotics, unnecessary pain and, in extreme cases, the death of the patient, so the prevention is a key aim for health services. Although many factors lead to SSI occurrences, hygiene of the surgical team members' hands has been documented as one of the important factors. Materials and Methods: This narrative review study, using the library method and searching for related articles in databases; Science direct, Scopus, PubMed, SID, as well as the Google Scholar search engine in English language with "Surgical site infection", "Hand washing" and "surgical technologist" keywords during the years ۲۰۱۵ to ۲۰۲۵ among these retrieved articles in the stages of title, abstract and full text and based on access to the articles, finally ۱۲ articles were selected and analyzed. Results: Micro-organisms that cause SSIs come from a variety of sources within the operating room, including the hands of the surgical team. While handwashing removes transient micro-organisms, surgical hand antisepsis goes a step further to inhibit the growth of resident microorganisms, thereby minimizing the risk of a patient developing an SSI. Based on studies, the most effective surgical-scrub protocol (scrubbing solutions, length of scrubbing time, dermatologic outcome measures) is effective in reducing the risk of SSIS. Conclusion: According to studies, proper hand washing by the surgical team, including surgical technologists, can lead to a reduction in the rate of surgical site infection; therefore, the correlation between hand hygiene practices and the reduction of SSIS necessitates further investigation because most studies examined CFUs (Colony-forming unit) instead of SSI rates.

کلیدواژه ها:

Surgical site infection ، Hand washing ، surgical technologist