Intraoperative suction catheter tip contamination.

Suction catheter tip contamination is a potential source of intraoperative inoculation of wounds with bacteria. The continuous passage of large quantities of air through a blood-soaked catheter tip during the course of surgical procedures can lead to significant contamination. This in turn may contribute to late wound infection due to inoculation of the deeper recesses of the wound via the contaminated suction catheter tip. We have conducted a prospective clinical study to confirm the incidence of suction catheter tip contamination during orthopaedic trauma surgery and propose changes to current practice to reduce the incidence.