Análise microbiológica das mãos de cirurgiões em um hospital público de São Luís - MA, Brasil

Abstract

Antisepsis of the hands of healthcare professionals working in an operating room is one of the most important steps in the healthcare process, since it can cause the cross-transfer of potentially pathogenic microorganisms to surgical sites, and is one of the most important goals in the patient safety program. This cross-sectional epidemiological study aimed to analyze the prevalence of microorganisms on the hands of surgeons at a public university hospital before and after surgical antisepsis, as well as to assess the level of knowledge of surgeons about patient safety goals. A swab was taken from the dominant hand of each doctor, before and after the hand-washing process. The samples were placed in Stuart transport medium and delivered to a private clinical analysis laboratory in São Luís-Maranhão. The microorganisms were identified by mass spectrophotometry (MALDI-TOF), and antimicrobial susceptibility testing (ASCT) was carried out. The results showed a high frequency (100%) of microorganisms before hand antisepsis, decreasing significantly (p<0.05) to 27.5% after antisepsis. Gram-positive cocci and rods were the most commonly identified germs after hand washing, followed by gram-negative bacilli species. The effectiveness of hand antisepsis was calculated at 72.5%. At the same time, a validated questionnaire revealed that only 13.6% of surgeons were fully aware of the six international patient safety goals, with the fourth goal (ensuring surgery at the correct site, procedure and patient) being the most widely known by 66.7% of those assessed. It was concluded that even after antisepsis, microorganisms of various potentially pathogenic species can remain on surgeons' hands, which points to a program of permanent education and continuous surveillance in order to generate a process of quality improvements in care