Quantification of facial contamination with blood during orthopaedic procedures

Operative surgery exposes the surgeon to possible blood-borne infections. Risks include penetrating injuries and conjunctival contact with infected blood. Visor masks worn during orthopaedic trauma procedures were assessed for blood contamination using computer analysis. This was found to be present on 86% of masks, of which only 15% was recognized by the surgeon intraoperatively. Of the blood splashes 80% were less than 0.6 mm in diameter. We conclude that power instrumentation produces a blood particulate mist causing considerable microscopic, facial contamination which is a significant risk to the surgeon. (C) 2000 The Hospital Infection Society.