Sterilization Packaging Guideline Updates for Perioperative Teams

Maintaining the sterility of surgical instruments is paramount to preventing infections and ensuring patient safety. AORN's updated guideline on packaging for sterilization provides crucial guidance for perioperative teams, addressing key concerns and promoting best practices for selecting, using, and maintaining packaging systems.

Addressing Critical Issues in Packaging for Sterilization

AORN periodically reviews and updates its guidelines to reflect current evidence and best practices. This update focuses on several critical areas:

• Packaging Defects: The guideline emphasizes the importance of minimizing packaging defects that can compromise sterility.
   
• Personnel Discomfort:Recognizing the ergonomic challenges faced by sterile processing professionals, the guideline addresses strategies to create a more comfortable and safe work environment.
  
  
• Quality of Pouches and Wraps: The guideline stresses the importance of inspecting single-use wraps and filters for defects before use.
  
  
• Streamlining Instrument Sets: The guideline encourages optimizing instrument sets to eliminate unnecessary instruments, streamlining processes, and potentially saving time and resources.

Packaging for Sterilization Guideline Changes and Enhancements:

• Ergonomic Considerations: The guideline emphasizes creating an ergonomic work environment for sterile processing professionals, including comfortable work surface heights, adjustable seating, adequate space for assembling trays, proper lighting, noise reduction, and anti-fatigue mats.
  
  
• Inspection of Wraps and Filters: The guideline reinforces the importance of inspecting all single-use wraps and filters for defects before assembling instrument sets.
  
  
• Streamlining Instrument Sets: New recommendations encourage facilities to streamline instrument sets by identifying and removing infrequently used instruments. This can improve efficiency and reduce costs.
  
  
• Pouch Use and Technique: The guideline provides detailed recommendations for using peel pouches (paper/plastic), including proper sizing, sealing techniques, and inspection of seals for gaps, folds, bubbles, or wrinkles.
  
  
• Heat Sealer Maintenance: The guideline emphasizes the importance of using heat sealers according to the manufacturer's instructions, ensuring correct temperature settings for different materials, and maintaining equipment for optimal performance.