It is estimated that electric drills (ED) have been used in orthopaedic surgeries for bone drilling for more than 50 years in Brazilian hospitals. It is an electric, thermosensitive equipment, not indicated for surgical use, which has not been previously evaluated regarding the sterilization efficacy, being suspect of infection risk. This study evaluated the efficacy of sterilization by ethylene oxide (EtO) of new drills that were intentionally contaminated with Bacillus atrophaeus spores. An experimental, laboratory, randomized applied research was developed, where 16 electric drills were analyzed, in addition to positive and negative controls. All the previously cleaned and sterilized equipment were submitted to contamination by spores. The experimental group was submitted to cleaning and sterilization by EtO and test of sterility by filtration through a 0.45 µm membrane. The membranes were cultivated and Gram and Wirtz-Conklin staining were carried out in positive results for spore visualization. An efficacy of 99.99999881% of the process of sterilization by EtO was confirmed, with a probability of survival of 1.19 x 10-8. Under the development conditions of the experiment, the efficacy of the sterilization of ED by EtO was confirmed.
Sterilization; Orthopaedic surgery; Surgical wound infection; Orthopaedic equipment; Ethylene oxide
