Guidelines Versus Measurements in Real Setting: Modelling Microbial Airborne Contamination and Air Flow in Operating Theaters

Airborne microbial contamination (AMC), measured in Colony Forming Units (CFUs)/m3, is an important parameter to observe for safety air in Operating Theater (OT). To maintain low AMC, several guidelines highlight the importance to maintain a certain number of Air Changes/h (ACH) although they only considering this parameter and not other ventilation aspects that may influence AMC. The aims of the study are: i) to verify the associations between the number of ACH and the CFUs in OT air; II) to identify a statistical relationship between ACH and AMC.