• Raymond Alexander Cocciolone, Steven Tristram, and Peter Mac Donald Hewitt.
• Department of Surgery, Launceston General Hospital, Launceston, Tasmania, Australia.
• ANZ J Surg. 2004 Jun 1; 74 (6): 439-41.

BackgroundClashing of surgical visor masks frequently occurs when two surgeons bend over an operative field simultaneously; however, it is unknown whether this results in contamination. The purpose of the present study was to determine the potential for operative field contamination following surgical visor-mask clashes. The nature of bacterial contamination was also assessed.MethodsThirty sham operative procedures were performed under normal operating conditions for a specified time period. The number of surgical visor mask clashes during each procedure was determined by randomization (0, 1, 2, 3, 4 or 6 clashes). All procedures were performed over a standard blood agar plate array. The degree of bacterial contamination was assessed by counting c.f.u. that developed after 24 h of incubation. Bacterial types were also determined.ResultsSurgical visor mask clashes resulted in increased contamination of the operative field; however, this was found to be independent of the number of clashes. 95% of pathogens were coagulase negative Staphylococcus species. Other bacteria included Micrococcus species, Bacillus species, Corynebacterium species, various Gram negative bacilli and Staphylococcus aureus (< 1%).ConclusionSurgical visor mask clashes increase the risk of bacterial contamination of the operative field.

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