Evaluation of a mobile surgical air decontamination device in reducing airborne microbial load in the operating theatre of a tertiary care hospital.
- 1Department of Clinical Microbiology, Army Hospital Research and Referral, New Delhi, India.
- 2Advanced Centre for Ophthalmic and Visual Sciences, Army Hospital Research and Referral, New Delhi, India.
- 3Department of Anaesthesiology and Critical Care, Army Hospital Research and Referral, New Delhi, India.
Abstract
Introduction
Microbiological air quality in the operating theatre (OT) plays a key role in preventing surgical site infections. Airborne particulate matter and microbes increase the risk of contamination during surgical procedures. Mobile air decontamination devices that integrate high-efficiency particulate air filtration with ultraviolet sterilization systems function as adjuncts to conventional ventilation systems to reduce airborne microbial load and improve microbiological air quality.Objective
To evaluate the efficacy of a mobile air decontamination device in reducing airborne particulate matter and the microbial load in an OT at a tertiary care hospital.Methods
A prospective interventional study was conducted over a period of 15 days in an OT at a tertiary care hospital in New Delhi in July 2025. Air sampling for particle counts and colony forming units (CFU) was performed before and after device activation during routine OT functioning. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS.Results
The mean total particle count decreased from 6835.57 particles/m³ to 4071.97 particles/m³ after device activation, and showed an overall reduction of 40.42%. Significant reductions were seen in 0.3-μm (P = 0.0061) and 0.5-μm (P = 0.0088) particles. The mean airborne microbial load showed a significant reduction from 34.47 CFU/m³ to 15.20 CFU/m³ (P = 0.0033). The reduction in microbial count was consistent despite variations in OT activity.Conclusion
The mobile air decontamination device improved air quality in the OT, and can be used as an adjunct to existing ventilation systems.
Related
- Construction of a quality evaluation index system for waterless surgical hand antisepsis in operating rooms
- Reducing surgical site infections among paediatric patients undergoing cardiac surgery: a multi-disciplinary quality improvement initiative
- Virtual Operating Theatre Simulation: Development and Evaluation of a Web-Based Learning Tool for Medical Students
- Use of anchor based receiver operating characteristics to evaluate clinical response of an adjunctive device used in successful surgical therapy.
- The cognition of dynamic evaluation of operating room environmental quality among medical staff: a qualitative study
BibTeX
@article{mohammed2026evaluation,
title = {{Evaluation of a mobile surgical air decontamination device in reducing airborne microbial load in the operating theatre of a tertiary care hospital.}},
author = {Naseeruddin Mohammed and Santosh Karade and Mohammed Ashraf Ali Namaji and Sanjay Kumar Mishra and Teenu Singh},
journal = {Infection prevention in practice},
year = {2026},
month = aug,
doi = {10.1016/j.infpip.2026.100583},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42909398},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Evaluation of a mobile surgical air decontamination device in reducing airborne microbial load in the operating theatre of a tertiary care hospital.
AU - Naseeruddin Mohammed
AU - Santosh Karade
AU - Mohammed Ashraf Ali Namaji
AU - Sanjay Kumar Mishra
AU - Teenu Singh
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/08/25
JO - Infection prevention in practice
DO - 10.1016/j.infpip.2026.100583
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42909398
AB - Introduction Microbiological air quality in the operating theatre (OT) plays a key role in preventing surgical site infections. Airborne particulate matter and microbes increase the risk of contamination during surgical procedures. Mobile air decontamination devices that integrate high-efficiency particulate air filtration with ultraviolet sterilization systems function as adjuncts to conventional ventilation systems to reduce airborne microbial load and improve microbiological air quality.Objective To evaluate the efficacy of a mobile air decontamination device in reducing airborne particulate matter and the microbial load in an OT at a tertiary care hospital.Methods A prospective interventional study was conducted over a period of 15 days in an OT at a tertiary care hospital in New Delhi in July 2025. Air sampling for particle counts and colony forming units (CFU) was performed before and after device activation during routine OT functioning. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS.Results The mean total particle count decreased from 6835.57 particles/m³ to 4071.97 particles/m³ after device activation, and showed an overall reduction of 40.42%. Significant reductions were seen in 0.3-μm (P = 0.0061) and 0.5-μm (P = 0.0088) particles. The mean airborne microbial load showed a significant reduction from 34.47 CFU/m³ to 15.20 CFU/m³ (P = 0.0033). The reduction in microbial count was consistent despite variations in OT activity.Conclusion The mobile air decontamination device improved air quality in the OT, and can be used as an adjunct to existing ventilation systems.
SN - 2590-0889
ER -