What Every Patient Should Know About Preventing Infections in the Operating Room
Surgery is stressful enough without worrying about getting an infection while you’re supposed to be healing. But for thousands of patients every year, infections caught during surgery—called “surgical site infections”—can turn recovery into a nightmare. Many of these infections are preventable, and hospitals are supposed to follow strict rules to keep you safe. So what happens when those rules aren’t followed?
Let’s break down what the experts say about keeping things sterile in the operating room (OR)—and what that means for you if you got injured by an infection after surgery.
What Does “Sterile Technique” Mean?
Sterile technique is a set of steps everyone in the OR is supposed to follow to keep germs out of your body during surgery. There are official, evidence-based guidelines for this, and the Association of periOperative Registered Nurses (AORN) updates these rules regularly.
Here’s what the guidelines make clear:
If the team in the OR is careless at any step—before, during, or after your operation—it’s a lot easier for harmful germs to get into your wound and cause an infection.
Key Safety Steps Hospitals Must Follow
Some of the most important rules include:
- Setting up the “sterile field”—all the tools, drapes, and areas where your surgery happens—right before the operation, not hours early. The longer things sit uncovered, the more likely they’ll get contaminated.
- Only opening one sterile field per patient, and making sure only specially “scrubbed” staff touch it.
- Everyone must scrub their hands the right way and put on gowns and gloves without touching anything dirty first. If a glove gets torn or dirty, it should be changed immediately.
- All equipment, tools, and supplies must be checked to make sure the packaging isn’t ripped or dirty before they even come near you.
- The fewer people moving around the OR, the better. Too many people or open doors can bring in germs from the hallway.
What Happens If There’s a “Break” in Sterile Technique?
A “break” means someone messed up—maybe they touched something they shouldn’t, or a tool was left out too long. The guidelines say that if this happens, the team must fix it right away. Sometimes, a big mistake means doctors have to admit the wound is now at higher risk for infection—a detail that should always be recorded in your medical records.
Why Does This Matter for Patients?
If you developed an infection after surgery, it’s possible the hospital or staff didn’t follow these guidelines. Sometimes, these infections are due to negligence—meaning someone didn’t do their job to keep you safe. When that happens, you have rights.
What Should You Do If You Were Injured by a Surgical Infection?
If you or a loved one suffered because of an infection after surgery, you may have a legal claim. Hospitals and surgical teams are required to follow these safety rules. If they didn’t, and you got hurt, they can be held responsible.
Contact our law firm for a free consultation. We’ll review your case, investigate what happened in the operating room, and help you understand your options. You deserve answers—and the best chance at recovery.
Girards Law Firm specializes in severe injury and wrongful death cases, especially those that involve birth injuries, brain damage, heart damage, spinal cord injuries or severe burns in Texas, Arkansas and Oklahoma. Contact us at www.girardslaw.com by using the chat feature for more information.