caa a22 4500 606184147 CHVBK 20210128100824.0 cr unu---uuuuu 210128e20150701xx s 000 0 eng 10.1007/s00405-014-3469-5 doi (NATIONALLICENCE)springer-10.1007/s00405-014-3469-5 A prospective study of blood splatter in ENT [Elektronische Daten] [Raj Lakhani, Yiwen Loh, Ting Zhang, Prasad Kothari] Surgeons face an occupational risk of daily exposure to blood and body fluids. Potential sources of infection include sharps injuries and mucocutaneous contact. The transmission of blood-borne viruses, in particular human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C from the patient to healthcare workers is well documented in the literature. We studied the incidence and degree of blood splash in all otolaryngology (ENT) procedures undertaken in a single unit over a 12week period. In addition, we investigated which intraoperative factors might predict the degree of splash. We undertook a prospective, non-blinded study of 102 patients undergoing a range of ‘routine' elective ENT within one department over 12weeks. A surgical mask with visor attached was worn in all procedures. Following each procedure, all splatter masks were collected and examined macroscopically and microscopically for blood splash. In addition, the procedure performed, technique used, total blood loss, operating time and grade of surgeon was noted. 54% of procedures resulted in splash mask contamination. The median number of splash spots per mask was 4.7 (range 0-63). Tonsillectomy was the most commonly performed procedure, accounting for over one-third of total procedures investigated. Each mask had an average of 8.2 splash marks. Tonsillectomy had a splash rate of 76.9%. Although the risk of developing HIV is low the operating surgeon has a duty to take all precautions to protect themselves during a procedure and therefore a protective mask and visor or suitable goggles must be worn. Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg, 2015 Blood splatter nationallicence Mucocutaneous spread nationallicence Transmission nationallicence HIV nationallicence Lakhani Raj Department of ENT and Head and Neck Surgery, St George's Hospital, Blackshaw Rd, SW17 0QT, London, UK aut Loh Yiwen Department of ENT and Head and Neck Surgery, St George's Hospital, Blackshaw Rd, SW17 0QT, London, UK aut Zhang Ting Department of ENT, The Luton & Dunstable Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Lewsey Rd, LU4 0DZ, Luton, Bedfordshire, UK aut Kothari Prasad Department of ENT, The Luton & Dunstable Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Lewsey Rd, LU4 0DZ, Luton, Bedfordshire, UK aut European Archives of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology Springer Berlin Heidelberg 272/7(2015-07-01), 1809-1812 0937-4477 272:7<1809 2015 272 405 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00405-014-3469-5 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI BK010053 XK010053 XK010000 Metadata rights reserved Springer special CC-BY-NC licence nationallicence 1 research-article jats NATIONALLICENCE NATIONALLICENCE NL-springer NATIONALLICENCE 856 40 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00405-014-3469-5 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Lakhani Raj Department of ENT and Head and Neck Surgery, St George's Hospital, Blackshaw Rd, SW17 0QT, London, UK aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Loh Yiwen Department of ENT and Head and Neck Surgery, St George's Hospital, Blackshaw Rd, SW17 0QT, London, UK aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Zhang Ting Department of ENT, The Luton & Dunstable Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Lewsey Rd, LU4 0DZ, Luton, Bedfordshire, UK aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Kothari Prasad Department of ENT, The Luton & Dunstable Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Lewsey Rd, LU4 0DZ, Luton, Bedfordshire, UK aut NATIONALLICENCE 773 0- European Archives of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology Springer Berlin Heidelberg 272/7(2015-07-01), 1809-1812 0937-4477 272:7<1809 2015 272 405