Assessment of Efficacy of Aseptic Techniques in Preventing Microbial Growth During Compounding of Sterile Preparations

Class of 2011 AbstactOBJECTIVES: To determine if aseptic methods prescribed by the USP 797 are effective in preventing microbial growth when compounding intravenous medication. Sample size: 60 individual IV preparations, 20 for the control group and 20 per test group. METHODS: Sixty agar plates were made. The IV preparations for the control group were compounded with aseptic technique: washing hands with soap and water, wearing gloves, cleaning all ports with alcohol, and working in a laminar flow hood. A syringe was used to inject the water from the vial into the IV bag. This procedure was repeated in the same manner for Group A (no use of laminar flow hood) and Group B (no swiping of the injection ports with an alcohol swab), minus the aseptic technique in question. Once all 60 IV preparations were completed, a sterile inoculation tool was used to obtain a sample from the port of the IV bag. The plates were then inoculated. RESULTS: When compared to the control group, microbial growth in Group A was not significant (p=0.14). The contamination rate for Group B was also not significant (p=0.07). CONCLUSION: Solutions compounded using abbreviated techniques (not swabbing injection ports and not using laminar flow hood) are not more likely to be contaminated than when using all proper aseptic techniques simultaneously.This item is part of the Pharmacy Student Research Projects collection, made available by the College of Pharmacy and the University Libraries at the University of Arizona. For more information about items in this collection, please contact Jennifer Martin, Librarian and Clinical Instructor, Pharmacy Practice and Science, jenmartin@email.arizona.edu