Investigating the microbiological contamination of drugs administered for anaesthesia in the operating theatre

Does the aseptic technique of anaesthetists in the administration of intravenous drugs contribute to healthcare associated infection in the operating theatre?

Status

Completed

Phases

Unknown

Study type

Observational

Source

ANZCTR

Registry ID

ACTRN12613000040763

Acronym

Q-bugs

Enrollment

Registered

2013-01-14

Start date

2013-08-13

Completion date

2014-04-28

Last updated

2020-01-13

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

None listed

Brief summary

This study follows on from previous research carried out in the Advanced Clinical Skills Centre simulation centre at Mercy Hospital in Auckland. We found bacterial growth in 13.1% (n=5/38) of empty sterile IV bags used to collect all administered medications from ten surgical scenarios. In the current study we aim to detect and quantify the microbiological contamination of drugs prepared and administered to patients during clinical anaesthesia in theatre. We aim to test the hypothesis that the microbiological contamination rate of IV drugs administered during anaesthesia occurs sufficiently often to be detected at least once in ten cases. This previous body of research was a substudy of a larger study "Validating Anaesthesia Simulation-based Error Research (the VASER study)" ACTRN12609000530224

Interventions

There is no intervention for this study as it is a microbiological audit of the drugs administered during anaesthesia. We propose to incorporate a 0.2micron filter unit into the drug administration line while the patient is in the operating theatre. This involves a small change in current practice which we believe is benign. Twenty participant anaesthetists will manage up to 20 surgical cases each until 300 cases in total have been completed.

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

All

Age

25 Years to 65 Years

Healthy volunteers

Yes

Inclusion criteria

Anaesthetic consultants and registrars who agree to take part in the study

Exclusion criteria

None

Outcome results