Pharmacy Department, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil; Orionce Serviços de Metrologia Ltda, Barueri, São Paulo, Brazil.
Santa Catarina Hospital, Central Sterile Supply Department, São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
Am J Infect Control. 2024 Nov;52(11):1314-1319. doi: 10.1016/j.ajic.2024.07.002. Epub 2024 Jul 6.
Hospital articles processed by steam are widely used in the Central Sterile Supply Department (CSSD), responsible for due sterilization. Steam sterilization is discussed worldwide, aiming to protect patients. If steam is outside the specified requirements, the sterilization process may fail, resulting in the wet packs at the end of the sterilization cycle.
The present study evaluated the steam quality at Santa Catarina Hospital (São Paulo, SP, Brazil) from 2016 to 2022. Saturated steam containing noncondensable gases, excess condensate, or even superheat was characterized using the methodology indicated in the European Standard EN 285:2015.
From 2016 to 2020, qualification tests showed that the saturated steam quality does not achieve standard limit parameters. Infrastructural maintenance actions were taken to adjust the saturated steam quality. In 2021, the steam quality followed technical standards, and its adequacy was confirmed in 2022.
The points developed by the hospital's maintenance department, the adoption of appropriate devices for this purpose, and the correct preventive maintenance in the autoclaves, together with the correct qualification of the equipment and proof of the steam quality, contributed to improve the safety of the hospital sterilization process and reduce the incidence of wet packages.
医院使用蒸汽处理的物品在中央供应部门（CSSD）中被广泛使用，负责进行适当的消毒。蒸汽消毒在全球范围内都有讨论，旨在保护患者。如果蒸汽不符合规定要求，消毒过程可能会失败，导致消毒周期结束时湿包。
本研究评估了 2016 年至 2022 年期间巴西圣保罗州圣卡塔琳娜医院的蒸汽质量。使用欧洲标准 EN 285:2015 中指示的方法对含有不可冷凝气体、过量冷凝水甚至过热的饱和蒸汽进行了特征描述。
2016 年至 2020 年，资格测试表明饱和蒸汽质量未达到标准限值参数。采取了基础设施维护措施来调整饱和蒸汽质量。2021 年，蒸汽质量符合技术标准，并在 2022 年得到了确认。
医院维修部门提出的要点、为此目的采用的适当设备以及高压釜的正确预防性维护，以及设备的正确资格认证和蒸汽质量的证明，有助于提高医院消毒过程的安全性并减少湿包的发生。
