Assessment of Efficacy of Aseptic Techniques in Preventing Microbial Growth During Compounding of Sterile Preparations

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: To determine if aseptic methods prescribed by the USP 797 are effective in preventing microbial growth when compounding intravenous medication. Sample size: 60 individual IV preparations, 20 for the control group and 20 per test group. METHODS: Sixty agar plates were made. The IV preparations for the control group were compounded with aseptic technique: washing hands with soap and water, wearing gloves, cleaning all ports with alcohol, and working in a laminar flow hood. A syringe was used to inject the water from the vial into the IV bag. This procedure was repeated in the same manner for Group A (no use of laminar flow hood) and Group B (no swiping of the injection ports with an alcohol swab), minus the aseptic technique in question. Once all 60 IV preparations were completed, a sterile inoculation tool was used to obtain a sample from the port of the IV bag. The plates were then inoculated. RESULTS: When compared to the control group, microbial growth in Group A was not significant (p=0.14). The contamination rate for Group B was also not significant (p=0.07). CONCLUSION: Solutions compounded using abbreviated techniques (not swabbing injection ports and not using laminar flow hood) are not more likely to be contaminated than when using all proper aseptic techniques simultaneously.