Impact of surgical clothing and footwear on operating room contamination during standstill and intraoperative stepping motion.

The present study showed that the stepping motion triggered a considerable contamination in the operative field (beyond the level of NASA100 threshold) particularly when an operator used the outside shoes or unsterilized scrub uniform. Therefore, these results tell us that the one-footwear system (i.e., no use of OR dedicated clean shoes) and unsterilized scrub are likely to be a potential risk factor for SSI. Nevertheless, further studies are necessary to conclude the real efficacy of OR dedicated shoes and sterilized clothes on the SSI prevention.