Investigation of current infection-control practices for ultrasound coupling gel: a survey, microbiological analysis, and examination of practice patterns.

Background And Objectives: Ultrasound coupling gel may serve as a vector for the spread of bacteria and has been the causative agent for significant health care-associated infections. The purpose of this study was to document existing infection-control procedures and level of contamination present within nonsterile ultrasound gel from several clinical departments at a single institution. A second purpose was to examine the effectiveness of clinician education and manufacturer-based ultrasound additives on ultrasound gel contamination and in vitro bacterial proliferation, respectively.

Increasing the NaCl concentration of the preinjected solution enhances monopolar radiofrequency lesion size.

Background: The effect of altering the sodium chloride (NaCl) concentration of the preinjected solution on monopolar radiofrequency (RF) lesion characteristics has not been investigated with conventional pain medicine equipment. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of increasing NaCl concentration on lesion dimensions.

Methods: Monopolar RF was performed with ex vivo chicken samples.