A survey on the thermal conditions experienced by a surgical team

TY - JOUR

T1 - A survey on the thermal conditions experienced by a surgical team

AU - Giaconia, Carlo

AU - Costanzo, Silvia

AU - Cusumano, Alessia

AU - Mazzacane, Sante

PY - 2007

Y1 - 2007

N2 - The complex environment of the operating theatre is shared by a group of people having highly different needs: on one side, there is a surgical team whose work may last many hours and, on the other, an anaesthetized patient often subject to liquid infusion. Up to now, little consideration has been given to the different needs of the surgical team who may be affected according to their positions with respect to the scialytic lamp and their particular task. Clothing influences the comfort of the surgical team to a considerable degree: in fact, in some surgery (orthopaedics, neurosurgery and so on), surgeons and assistants must wear paper overalls beneath non-breathable plastic overalls and protective masks and caps; then, if X-rays are needed during surgery, the second surgeon and the assistants must also wear lead overalls and lead thyroid collars and gloves while the anaesthetists and nurses will keep on wearing non-breathable paper overalls. In consequence, the thermal resistance of the clothing of the surgical staff involved in the same surgical operation could be very different. The purpose of the present work is to report investigations carried out at the SS. Annunziata Hospital in Cento (Ferrara, Italy) and present some of the data obtained. The article describes experimental and theoretical research activities, both ongoing and proposed, inherent to the thermo-hygrometric comfort problems of medical personnel. This study falls within a larger research programme, concerning the microbiological, chemical and physical pollution phenomena and the patient’s hypothermia problems in an operating theatre.

AB - The complex environment of the operating theatre is shared by a group of people having highly different needs: on one side, there is a surgical team whose work may last many hours and, on the other, an anaesthetized patient often subject to liquid infusion. Up to now, little consideration has been given to the different needs of the surgical team who may be affected according to their positions with respect to the scialytic lamp and their particular task. Clothing influences the comfort of the surgical team to a considerable degree: in fact, in some surgery (orthopaedics, neurosurgery and so on), surgeons and assistants must wear paper overalls beneath non-breathable plastic overalls and protective masks and caps; then, if X-rays are needed during surgery, the second surgeon and the assistants must also wear lead overalls and lead thyroid collars and gloves while the anaesthetists and nurses will keep on wearing non-breathable paper overalls. In consequence, the thermal resistance of the clothing of the surgical staff involved in the same surgical operation could be very different. The purpose of the present work is to report investigations carried out at the SS. Annunziata Hospital in Cento (Ferrara, Italy) and present some of the data obtained. The article describes experimental and theoretical research activities, both ongoing and proposed, inherent to the thermo-hygrometric comfort problems of medical personnel. This study falls within a larger research programme, concerning the microbiological, chemical and physical pollution phenomena and the patient’s hypothermia problems in an operating theatre.

KW - Thermal stress . Thermal comfort . Tskin . Operating theatre . Surgery . Clothing

UR - http://hdl.handle.net/10447/33460

M3 - Article

VL - 16

SP - 99

EP - 109

JO - Indoor and Built Environment

JF - Indoor and Built Environment

SN - 1420-326X

ER -