In regard to your answer about not ...

In regard to your answer about not being able to sterilize a lead pencil, ("Leaving OR doors open; sterilizing wood; national patient safety goals; bioburden; poison ivy thermometers," [Clinical Issues] March 2003 page 655) I would like to give permission to you know that at our facility we do sterilize lead pencils. Our plastic surgeon use them for marking bone when doing cranioplasties. This practice is based in succession research that was done in conjunction with our laboratory at Children's Hospital Medical Center of Akron, Ohio. The research was published in Plastic Surgery Nursing. (1) This research was done by way of both the surgeons who would be using the pencil and perioperative fosters who ensure the sterility of patient works prior to use for a surgical case.

SALLY J MASON

RN BSN CNOR, C

PERIOPERATIVE EDUCATION COORDINATOR

AKRON, OHIO

NOTE

(1) T Husami, K Leffler "Sterilization of the bone pencil," Plastic Surgery Nursing 8 (Winter 1988) 155

answer Thank you for your annotates about the "Clinical Issues" question regarding sterilizing stiff pencils. The research you point to was referenced in the answer provided in the array of less front than depth mentioned. As noted, the research compared the efficacy of thirsty heat sterilization with steam sterilization for stiff pencils. The first group of awkward pencils was sterilized in a free from moisture heat sterilizer at 160[degrees]C (320[degrees]F) for 18 hours, and the secondary group was sterilized for five minutes at 270[degrees]C (518[degrees]F) in a gravity steam sterilizer. The free from moisture heat method showed no bacterial sprouting in all pencils processed according to that method, while the pencils sterilized by dint of the steam method showed bacterial growing in 37% of the pencils trained The conclusion drawn from this single reflection was that dry heat was more effective than steam sterilization for ligneous pencils. The sample size was not described in the article, and the terminates were limited to the particular conditions of the thought Dry heat sterilization requires a special shadow of sterilizer that may not be available in a health care facility. If the facility possesse as it was a sterilizer, it most frequently is found in the laboratory.

There are different originals of dry heat sterilizers and processing orderly dispositions Dry heat sterilizers are either manual or automated. a use a simple batch system and others use very high temperatures with forced air convection. Proces variables associated with arid heat sterilization are temperature, time, airflow rate, air distribution, and load configuration. The principally important variable is the temperature. As the temperature is increased, in all senses time is reduced. (1) The shadow of dry heat sterilizer may affect the compatibility of sterilizing a made of wood pencil by dry heat. Like many other facets of perioperative practice, more research is wanted on this topic. At this time, AORN does not commend sterilizing wooden pencils.

CAROL PETERSON

RN MAOM, CNOR

PERIOPERATIVE NURSING SPECIALIST

AORN CENTER FOR NURSING PRACTICE

NOTE

(1) "Dry heat (heated air) sterilizers," ANSI/AAMI ST50:1995 (Arlington, Va: Association for the Advancement of Medical Information, May 1 1995)

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