A UK historical perspective on operating theatre ventilation.

As part of the preparation for the report of the Hospital Infection Society Working Party on Infection Control and Operating Theatres, studies published from the UK on the subject of operating theatre ventilation were reviewed. Few have convincingly demonstrated a direct relationship between the microbiological quality of operating theatre air and postoperative wound infection. Nevertheless, the findings from these studies have had a major influence on the development of official UK guidance on the design, performance and testing of ventilation in both conventional and ultraclean operating theatres. Copyright 2002 The Hospital Infection Society