Microbiological evaluation of air quality and surface contamination in the surgical room at West Kalimantan Regional General Hospital

Aims: This study aimed to evaluate the microbiological quality of airborne and surface bacterial contamination in surgical rooms. Methods: This descriptive study was conducted at West Kalimantan Regional General Hospital (WKRGH) from October to December 2023 to evaluate microbiological contamination of air and floor surfaces. Air samples were collected using the settling plate method, while floor surface samples were obtained using the swab method. Surgical rooms with the highest frequency of procedures were selected through purposive sampling. Results: The airborne bacterial counts ranged from 52.37 colony forming unit (CFU)/m3 to 995.13 CFU/m3, while surface bacterial counts ranged from 2.66 CFU/m2 to 48 CFU/m2. Post-disinfection, the airborne bacterial counts were, i.e., median 0 CFU/m3 and surface bacterial counts ranged from median 0 CFU/m2 to 1.33 CFU/m2. According to the Italian National Institute for Occupational Safety and Prevention, surgical rooms 1 (median: 209.5) and 2 (median: 995.13) did not meet the criteria for airborne microbial contamination during surgery, as the levels exceeded 180 CFU/m3. Post-surgical evaluations of both air and floor surface samples showed complete compliance with the established criteria. Conclusions: Overall, the quality of airborne and surface bacteria in the surgical rooms at WKRGH meets the acceptable standards. However, certain rooms still exceed this limit and require improvement to comply with the recommended standards.