Instrument Sets in Room But Not Opened

[Sandy Peters]

I was told today by the OR that if instrument sets are taken into the room, just in case the physician might want them and they are not opened, they are returning them to our clean area.

I'm not sure I agree with that concept. If instruments are taken into the room and opened or not opened, and the patient is in the room, I would consider all them need to be sent back to the Decontamination Room for reprocessing. Am I incorrect in this thought?

Can anyone help me with the standard where it says you don't have to take the unopened ones to the Decontamination Room even if the patient was in the room.

I'm frustrated and need your help.

Thanks very much.

[Harvey Johnson]

AAMI defines contaminated as a state of having been actually or potentially in contact with microorganisms (defining microorganisms as those capable of producing disease or infection).
Our policy is if the patient enters the room all trays are considered contaminated.
If a case is cancelled without the patient entering the room, the instruments can be sent for reprocessing via the clean elevator.

[chipmoore]

Question. If barrier protection is intact and a facility practices event related to determine whether a sterile pack's contents are no longer sterile and safe to use, how does remaining unopened in the OR cause or support the need to re-process the tray?
Chip Moore
Rochester, NY
Retired but involved

[pixieduster]

So is it correct to say that if a tray is opened, and in the room with the patient during the procedure, but is not used, it should absolutely be washed again before sterilization?
How about if it is opened and remains covered throughout the procedure? I couldn't find anything in ST79 regarding this.
We've always reprocessed everything that was in the room. But we were discussing this the other day, and I couldn't really come up with any answers.

[kdaz]

So are all of the disposable supplies that are not opened thrown away (packs, bandages, dressings, etc) if the patient was in the room and these items were not used?

[fkrizman]

I think there are two different things here? Just to clarify the discussion is for treatment of only those supplies "opened". Supplies remaining unopened are considered barrier intact and returned to the shelf even if they were in a room were surgery has taken place. The question is for what should be done with those supplies that were opened but not used such as the extra tray brought in and opened on the ring stand just before the surgeon changed his mind or those items that are opened just because the tech thought the surgeon may need the kitchen sink too?

We try to wash all of those.