Preparing for surgery – equipment

Unlike the animal and the surgical team, which are disinfected, most equipment used during surgery can be sterilised to remove all organisms. Sterilisation or disinfection can be achieved in a number of ways depending on the degree of cleaning required and the type of equipment to be cleaned. The methods fall into two broad categories:

1) Physical sterilisation

• This is generally more reliable than chemical methods
• Three methods exist
  • thermal energy
  • radiation energy
  • filtration

2) Chemical sterilisation

• This is usually accomplished using ethylene oxide (gas)
• Various liquid disinfectants can be used and are often the only rapid method available in field situations (where there is no option of using of a more reliable method)
• This tends to be less efficient than physical means
• Two methods exist
  • gas
  • liquid