The dynamics and implications of bacterial transmission events arising from the anesthesia work area.

Health care-associated infections are a hospital-wide concern associated with a significant increase in patient morbidity, mortality, and health care costs. Bacterial transmission in the anesthesia work area of the operating room environment is a root cause of 30-day postoperative infections affecting as many as 16% of patients undergoing surgery. A better understanding of anesthesia-related bacterial transmission dynamics may help to generate improvements in intraoperative infection control and improve patient safety.