Microbial growth in surrogate surgical instruments processed and used in surgical procedures

Introduction: Sterilization processes of surgical material are more rigorous nowadays, but cases of microbial development in these instruments continue to be recorded, representing a risk of postoperative infection.Surgical nurses need to corroborate the microbial presence in surgical instruments, especially in surrogate instruments, to protect the patient's health and safety.Objective: To determine if there is microbial growth in the critical points of the subrogated instruments, processed and used in surgical procedures.Method: Descriptive, cross-sectional, quantitative study.The sample consisted of 130 surgical instruments subrogated from a hospital in Mexico City in the year 2023.The culture for microbial development was performed with brain-heart infusion, a substance approved by Mexican law to determine pathogenic microorganisms.Results: Microbial growth tests were negative in 100% of the cases.Therefore, no microbial growth was identified in the critical points of the surrogate surgical instruments.In other investigations, microbial growth on surgical instruments also resulted in null, highlighting the importance of sterilization control and monitoring to prevent instrument contamination.Conclusions: The results obtained suggest that the hospital and the subcontracting companies perform the sterilization processes adequately since no microbial development was found in the critical points of the surgical instruments.It is of great importance for the surgical nursing staff to carry out periodic evaluations of the sterility of the subcontracted surgical instruments to prevent postoperative infections.