Klumdeth Jenjira, Jantaratnotai Nattinee, Thaweboon Sroisiri, Pachimsawat Praewpat
Department of Advanced General Dentistry, Faculty of Dentistry, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand.
Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Science, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand.
Heliyon. 2020 Mar 30;6(3):e03672. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2020.e03672. eCollection 2020 Mar.
Paper/plastic sterilization pouches are commonly used packaging material for steam sterilization. Reuse of these pouches is a general practice in Thailand despite a single-use recommendation. This study aimed to determine microbial contamination after reusing paper/plastic sterilization pouches in a dental clinic and storage in a closed environment for 6 months. Three hundred and twenty pouches underwent 3 times of clinical use in terms of packaging, autoclave sterilization, handling, and unpacking. A mouth mirror was packed in each pouch to be used in a clinic. After each use, a pouch would be carefully inspected for reusability and undergone packaging, sterilization, handling again. In all steps, sterilization monitoring was rigorously applied. After 3 times of use, a piece of filter paper was placed inside each pouch (instead of a mouth mirror), the pouch was autoclaved and stored in a closed environment for 6 months. Then the filter paper was retrieved for microbial cultivation. A negative control group comprised new pouches containing filter paper without storage and a positive control group comprised pouches with impaired integrity. All samples in both the reuse and the negative control groups had no microbial contamination. All samples in the positive control group showed contamination. These results suggested that reusing paper/plastic sterilization pouches could be a safe practice provided careful monitoring and inspection were employed.
纸/塑灭菌包装袋是蒸汽灭菌常用的包装材料。尽管建议一次性使用,但在泰国重复使用这些包装袋是普遍做法。本研究旨在确定牙科诊所重复使用纸/塑灭菌包装袋并在封闭环境中储存6个月后的微生物污染情况。320个包装袋在包装、高压蒸汽灭菌、处理和拆包方面经历了3次临床使用。每个包装袋中装入一个口镜以供诊所使用。每次使用后,会仔细检查包装袋是否可重复使用,并再次进行包装、灭菌和处理。在所有步骤中,都严格进行灭菌监测。使用3次后,在每个包装袋内放置一张滤纸(代替口镜),将包装袋进行高压蒸汽灭菌并在封闭环境中储存6个月。然后取出滤纸进行微生物培养。阴性对照组包括未储存的装有滤纸的新包装袋,阳性对照组包括完整性受损的包装袋。重复使用组和阴性对照组的所有样本均未出现微生物污染。阳性对照组的所有样本均显示有污染。这些结果表明,如果进行仔细的监测和检查,重复使用纸/塑灭菌包装袋可能是一种安全的做法。