Do room air temperature and human activity affect the particle concentration under real surgical procedures in operating rooms with mixing ventilation? - An experimental study at St. Olavs hospital

¹ Department of Energy and Process Engineering, Norwegian University of Science and Technology - NTNU, Norway
² Faculty of Civil Engineering, Brno University of Technology, Brno, Czech Republic
³ Mechanical and Industrial Engineering department, Norwegian University of Science and Technology - NTNU, Norway
⁴ St. Olavs Hospital, Trondheim, Norway

^* Corresponding author: yang.bi@ntnu.no

Abstract

The objective of this study is to explore the effects of different room temperatures and different types of activities on the indoor air quality in the operating room during surgery. Three mock-up surgeries were performed at 21 °C, 23 °C, and 25 °C at St. Olavs hospital in Norway. The effects of the surgeon’s activity and nurse's movement on the concentration of particulate matter at the surgical site and instrument table were compared. The results show that the concentrations of particles at both the surgical site and the instrument table are the lowest at room temperature of 23 °C. The activity of the surgeon was the main factor leading to the increase in the concentration of particulate matter with the size 0.3-0.5 μm at the surgical site, while the nurse movement led to the increase in the concentration of particulate matter with the larger size. At all room temperatures, the movement of the distribution nurse had a greater effect than the activity of the surgeon on the increase of the concentration of particles at the instrument table. In addition, the intensity of the particulate source may be factors affecting the concentration of particulate matter. Therefore, it is recommended that distribution nurses should avoid unnecessary activities during the operation.