COMPLETE NOSE COVERAGE TO PREVENT AIRBORNE CONTAMINATION VIA NOSTRILSIS UNNECESSARY

Besides an a-traumatic procedure, aseptic techniques during surgery ha ve been suggested to have a positive impact on the predictability of o sseointegration. To avoid an infection of the surgical field, coverage of the face of the patient (drapes) and nose (surgical mask, drape an d plastic film) were advocated in order to reduce airborne infections and to prevent a contact contamination of instruments and gloves. Such a coverage, however, increases the feeling of claustrophobia when loc al anaesthesia is used and can lead to hypoxemia. The aim of the prese nt study was to investigate whether the expired air via the nostrils c ould contribute to the contamination of the oral surgical field. Test blood agar plates were installed for 30 min under the nose of voluntee rs lying on a surgical table; once with full coverage of their nostril s, as indicated above, and once without. Simultaneously, control plate s were installed on a table besides the patient to measure the basic c ontamination from the environment. All plates were incubated both aero bically and anaerobically. The number of colony forming units (c.f.u.) recorded on test plates after aerobic and anaerobic incubation were s urprisingly low, with a mean score of 2.7 and 5.0 c.f.u. for the uncov ered situation, and 2.5 and 3.3 c.f.u. for the covered situation, resp ectively. The control plates were infected by a nearly comparable numb er of bacteria (means ranging from 2.2 to 3.2). These findings indicat e that covering nostrils by a mask and sterile adhesive plastic film i s not essential in avoiding airborne microbial contamination. However, the use of a meshed nose guard to prevent contact with the highly con taminated nasal skin is highly recommended.