Infection control practices to reduce airborne bacteria during total knee replacement: a hospital survey in four states.

Objective: To describe the use of laminar airflow, body exhaust, and ultraviolet lights during total knee replacement (TKR) in four U.S. states.

Design: Survey of healthcare facilities.

Setting: Hospitals in Illinois, North Carolina, Ohio, and Tennessee that performed TKR during 2000 as identified by Medicare claims data.

Participants: Hospitals responding to a mailed questionnaire.

Results: Two hundred ninety-five (73%) of 405 eligible hospitals that performed 18,374 primary and revision TKR procedures responded to the questionnaire. Among responding hospitals, 30% reported regular use (for > 75% of procedures) of laminar airflow, 42% reported regular use of body exhaust, and 5% reported regular use of ultraviolet lights. Among hospitals providing complete data, 150 (58%) performing 66% of procedures reported regular use of at least one of these techniques. On regression analyses, laminar airflow was used more often by hospitals with a TKR volume greater than 25 procedures per year (odds ratio [OR], 2.0; 95% confidence interval [CI95], 1.1-3.7) and orthopedic residency programs (OR, 2.8; CI95, 1.3-6.3), but its use was not significantly related to hospital setting or ownership status.

Conclusions: Although these clean air practices are not recommended by any U.S. governmental or professional organization, they are used in nearly two-thirds of TKR procedures. Better information about their impact on current practice and more explicit guidelines may aid decisions about the use of these resource-intensive infection control practices.