Da Zhou Charlie, Sivathondan Pamela, Handa Ashok
New College, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3BN, UK
Nuffield Department of Surgical Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 9DU, UK.
J R Soc Med. 2015 Jun;108(6):223-8. doi: 10.1177/0141076815583167.
The use of surgical facemasks is ubiquitous in surgical practice. Facemasks have long been thought to confer protection to the patient from wound infection and contamination from the operating surgeon and other members of the surgical staff. More recently, protection of the theatre staff from patient-derived blood/bodily fluid splashes has also been offered as a reason for their continued use. In light of current NHS budget constraints and cost-cutting strategies, we examined the evidence base behind the use of surgical facemasks. Examination of the literature revealed much of the published work on the matter to be quite dated and often studies had poorly elucidated methodologies. As a result, we recommend caution in extrapolating their findings to contemporary surgical practice. However, overall there is a lack of substantial evidence to support claims that facemasks protect either patient or surgeon from infectious contamination. More rigorous contemporary research is needed to make a definitive comment on the effectiveness of surgical facemasks.
外科口罩在外科手术实践中无处不在。长期以来，人们一直认为口罩能保护患者免受伤口感染以及手术医生和其他手术人员的污染。最近，保护手术室工作人员免受患者血液/体液飞溅也被视为继续使用口罩的一个理由。鉴于当前英国国家医疗服务体系（NHS）的预算限制和成本削减策略，我们研究了使用外科口罩背后的证据基础。对文献的审查发现，关于这个问题的许多已发表作品相当陈旧，而且研究方法往往阐述得很差。因此，我们建议在将其研究结果外推至当代外科实践时要谨慎。然而，总体而言，缺乏大量证据支持口罩能保护患者或外科医生免受感染性污染的说法。需要更严格的当代研究才能对外科口罩的有效性做出明确评论。
