Assessing the effects of sliding doors on an operating theatre climate

Surgical site infections (SSIs) are the second to third most common site of health care associated infections (HAIs). It is very important to maintain good indoor air quality (IAQ) and the best ventilation system in the operating theatre (OT) to ensure health and safety for the patient and surgical team, also to reduce the risk of post-operative wound infection. Then a significant consideration in OTs is the control of aerosols, anesthesia gases and smoke. The present paper uses the airflow modeling based on computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to study the indoor climate of a standard ISO5 class OT with an ultraclean air filter system and a total ceiling unidirectional diffuser. The OT has a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) plant with a laminar airflow (LAF) or ultraclean ventilation. A simple method to analyze the effects of different sliding door conditions combined with crossing persons and persons with a stretcher crossing, on the OT climate, airflow patterns and the indoor pressures scheme, is provided. The proposed simulation method, that belongs to the indirect approach for a numerical simulation of solid object movements in a fluid, provides important knowledge on complex flow phenomena combined with multi-physical conditions. Results obtained by transient simulation show disruptions of the airflow inside the OT and different airflow displacement and distribution caused by surgery staff movements and sliding door opening and closing, but in particular static pressure changes in the HVAC plant system with important effects on ventilation system working conditions and its energy performances.