Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to R Hickle.
Documentation has been presented to establish one of the main areas of air safety concern in the perioperative setting infectious respiratory diseases. Many surgical patients are immunocompromised, yet are exposed to many patients who are undergoing cough-inducing procedures in a room without environmental respiratory protection.
We have presented a source-control technology that addresses all three areas of concern. Using waste anesthesia gases as a marker for the efficacy with which the source-control system could control the dissemination of respiratory and bloodborne pathogens, the system reduced exposure to virtually undetectable levels. We thus conclude that source-control is a cost-effective method of markedly reducing the risk of infectious disease transmission in the perioperative setting for both patients and personnel.