Effect of air-exhaust location on surgical site particle distribution in an operating room

Abstract

This study investigates the effect of exhaust outlet location on airflow and particle distribution in an operating room with laminar ventilation system via computational fluid dynamics (CFD). Four different exhaust opening locations and three different particle diameters (5, 10 and 20μm) are taken into consideration for the same air change rate (30 ACH). It is found that the total number of particles deposited on the operating table decreased by 64 % for the smallest particle diameter (5 μm) and 26 % for the largest particle diameter (20 μm) when ceiling and floor level outlets are used together.