Studies of Theatre Ventilation and Surgical Wound Infection

The purpose of this report is to describe the measures taken to reduce the risk of air-borne infection of aseptic surgical wounds in patients treated by the Surgical Pro- fessorial Unit at St. Thomas's Hospital during the years 1955, 1956, and 1957.Particular attention was paid to the possibility of reducing the bacterial content of the theatre air, and hence the risk of wound infection, by altering the method of ventilating the theatre.The system existing at the beginning was