Ceiling Jet Barrier Intervention to Reduce Air Exchange Between Operating Rooms and Anterooms

Surgical Site Infections (SSIs) remain a major concern in hospitals, as they significantly increase patient morbidity and mortality, prolong recovery times, and contribute to higher healthcare costs. A key contributor to the occurrence of SSIs is the infiltration of airborne contaminants into operating rooms (ORs), a process that is often exacerbated by the frequent opening and closing of doors by surgical staff during ongoing procedures. These disturbances can allow contaminated air to flow into the sterile environment of the OR, undermining infection control strategies that are otherwise carefully maintained. Ceiling jets can be strategically positioned in the buffer space between the OR and the anteroom and represent a promising dynamic intervention. By establishing a protective barrier against particle intrusion, they offer an additional layer of defense beyond conventional ventilation systems. Nevertheless, the development of optimal designs for such systems—requiring the proposal, testing, and rigorous evaluation of multiple airflow configurations—remains insufficiently investigated, leaving important gaps in current knowledge. This study addresses these gaps by investigating airflow dynamics during door-opening events between an operating room and its anteroom using advanced computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations. Two distinct scenarios were analyzed: a reference case without any intervention and a modified configuration equipped with a ceiling jet barrier and floor-level exhaust. The simulations reveal that the ceiling-mounted vertical jet barrier generates a temporary containment zone, stabilizing the flow field and reducing unwanted air exchange across the doorway. Contaminant entrainment caused by staff-induced wake flows was also significantly suppressed. Compared with the baseline, the system consistently lowered the volume of air transferred into the operating room, highlighting its potential as an effective dynamic strategy to strengthen protective airflow.