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
Updated on 12th May 2020