Body Map of Droplet Distributions During Oropharyngeal Suction to Protect Health Care Workers From Airborne Diseases.
Jiyeon Park, Min-Ying Su, Keum Nae Kang and 5 others
PMID 36229328WHAT IT FOUND
Suctioning intubated mannequins with an oral airway splashed fewer visible droplets on staff gowns than suctioning without one (6.20 vs 13.6 droplets).
Extubation contaminated the head, neck, chest, and abdomen more widely. This is not patient or infection outcome evidence.
Key findings
01Suctioning intubated mannequins with an oral airway produced fewer visible droplets on the body mapping gown than suctioning without an oral airway (6.20 ± 2.201 vs 13.6 ± 4.300 droplets; P < .001).
02During suction without an oral airway, the left arm had more total droplets than the right arm (7.5 ± 3.894 vs 3.9 ± 2.025; P = .018).
03Extubation contaminated more gown areas than suction, including the head, neck, chest, and abdomen, with 13.9 ± 6.064 total droplets versus 6.20 ± 2.201 in the oral airway suction group.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The procedures were done on mannequins, so they did not include coughing, agitation, or patient movement that could change splash. The fluid was paint solution, not real oral secretions, so droplet behaviour may differ. Only one anesthesiologist performed the suction and extubation, so his technique may not represent other clinicians. The number of procedures was chosen by the authors without a sample size calculation, so the estimates may be imprecise. The study counted visible droplets, not total contaminant volume, aerosol particles, or infection transmission.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read this as evidence that oral airways or added gown coverage prevent airborne disease transmission in real patients. The study measured visible paint droplets on mannequin gowns, not infectious particles or clinical infections.