Abstract
The protective air enclosure that has received most attention, particularly in the last twenty years, in hospitals, is the operating theatre. This differs, however, from the hospital laboratory enclosure in that the work to be done is generally performed within the enclosure and the objective is to keep the air clean, particularly in the region of the patient being operated on, but also in such areas associated with the operation as may contribute to infective micro-organisms entering the region of the patient. The problem is therefore to try to ensure that infective micro-organisms or other harmful particles do not reach the surgical wound site. These undesirable particles can be present in the air of the room or on personnel or articles that are in the operating room or on the patient himself. Many techniques and operating methods have been developed by different surgeons for dealing with the latter, but the engineer is mainly concerned with the problem of keeping the air clean around the operating site, whatever the source of the undesirable particles within his control.
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© 1981 P. A. F. White
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White, P.A.F. (1981). Operating rooms. In: Protective Air Enclosures in Health Buildings. Palgrave, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-05057-4_10
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-05057-4_10
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