A Comparative Study on The Decontamination Efficacy of High-Level Chemical Disinfectants Against a Water Only Treatment
Abstract
Infections associated with combat-related injuries occur in approximately 25 percent of those arriving to the three largest U.S. military treatment facilities (MTF) with an estimated 60 percent deemed preventable. A critical constraint of mobile surgical teams is the inability to bring surgical instrument sterilizers. Operational challenges experienced in austere environments at times require that surgical instruments be reused to save the lives of combat wounded during mass casualty events. In such situations, it is imperative that Ground Surgical Teams (GSTs) have at their disposal a high-level disinfectant product and an effective protocol for using it. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the ability of commercially available high-level disinfectants already in use by GSTs to reduce or eliminate bacterial load from contaminated surgical instruments. The findings indicate that mechanical debridement in potable water followed by soaking in any of the three disinfectants tested achieved a significant reduction in recovered bacteria from instruments compared to rinsing in potable or sterile water only. Decontamination was durable for up to 28 days post-treatment. Of the three disinfectants tested, Cidex OPA appeared to be the most robust in terms of decontamination (no contaminated instruments detected, 0 percent), followed by CaviCide (15 percent of instruments produced at least some bacterial growth), and Neutral Disinfectant Cleaner (NDC) (40 percent of instruments produced some growth). This study supports the conclusion that commercially available disinfectants already in use in the field are capable of effectively disinfecting soiled surgical instruments resulting in minimal to no recoverable bacterial load.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Dec 01, 2020
- Accession Number
- AD1225200
Entities
People
- Amber M. Mallory
- Kimberly Baker
- Mark Ervin
- Stephen J. Anderson
Organizations
- 59th Medical Wing