Nielsen M L
Acta Pathol Microbiol Scand B. 1976 Apr;84(2):69-74. doi: 10.1111/j.1699-0463.1976.tb01904.x.
The effect of flaming (i.e. dipping biopsy specimens in alcohol and igniting them by drawing them rapidly through an open flame) on the reduction of bacterial surface contamination and on true bacterial concentrations in underlying tissue was investigated in different sizes of liver biopsy specimens in an experimental model suitable for quantitative and statistical calculations. Different degrees of surface contamination and of bacterial concentrations in underlying tissue were examined after a varying number of flaming procedures, the study comprising a total of 400 biopsy specimens. The flaming procedure repeated three times was able to eradicate a surface contamination of up to 10(4) E. coli per biopsy specimen, whereas a contamination of 10(6) E. coli per biopsy specimen was reduced to only 10(3) E. coli. Undesirable reduction in the true bacterial concentrations in tissue did not invalidate the method from a quantitative bacteriological point of view, since the median reduction in bacteria per gram tissue in biopsy specimens of 1 cm3 size did not exceed a factor of 3 after three repeated flamings. It is concluded that in regard to surface sterilization the method is unreliable as a routine in postmortem bacteriological studies.
在一个适合进行定量和统计计算的实验模型中，研究了烧灼（即将活检标本浸入酒精中并通过在明火上快速拉动将其点燃）对减少细菌表面污染以及对潜在组织中真实细菌浓度的影响，该研究针对不同大小的肝活检标本展开。在进行不同次数的烧灼操作后，检测了表面污染的不同程度以及潜在组织中的细菌浓度，该研究总共包括400个活检标本。重复三次的烧灼操作能够根除每个活检标本高达10⁴个大肠杆菌的表面污染，而每个活检标本10⁶个大肠杆菌的污染仅减少到10³个大肠杆菌。从定量细菌学的角度来看，组织中真实细菌浓度的不良降低并未使该方法无效，因为在1立方厘米大小的活检标本中，经过三次重复烧灼后，每克组织中细菌的中位数减少不超过3倍。得出的结论是，就表面灭菌而言，该方法作为尸检细菌学研究中的常规方法是不可靠的。
