The Infection Risk Hiding in Plain Sight: Dropped Implants in the Operating Room
Patients trust that surgeons use clean instruments, implants, and surfaces. A recent study in Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology shatters a quiet operating room assumption. Surgeons cannot safely disinfect a dropped implant and reuse it. Researchers at the Duke Center for Antimicrobial Stewardship and Infection Prevention tested this directly. They exposed 213 polyethylene joint-replacement liners to OR floor contamination […]