Surgical face masks have been designed to protect health care professionals from the splashes of the patients’ blood or body fluids and also to minimise the transmission of oro- and nasopharyngeal bacteria from the surgical team to the patient’s wounds, thereby decreasing the likelihood of postoperative surgical site infections during a surgical procedure. However, there are several ways in which surgical face masks could potentially contribute to contamination of the wound during a surgical procedure in the operating room. The objectives of this study were to explore and describe the effectiveness of surgical face masks as a protective barrier during a surgical procedure in the operating room in the public hospitals in the North West Province, South Africa and to formulate recommendations regarding surgical face masks worn by health care professionals during a surgical procedure in the operating rooms. A systematic review was conducted, followed by a quantitative, explorative, descriptive and contextual approach. The motivation for a systematic review was to search evidence on surgical face mask efficiency. A search strategy was conducted in February and March 2012 and the total initial search was 9,933 research articles. Screening of articles on effectiveness of surgical face masks during a surgical procedure was done. After six months the search was updated and the final sample of six relevant articles (n=6) was obtained. Studies that met the inclusion criteria were critically appraised based on the scores using standardised critical appraisal tools. The findings of this research project were synthesised and evaluated in order to come to conclusions. Conclusions were integrated and synthesised as the basis of developing a clear overview of the best quality empirical evidence about effectiveness of surgical face masks during a surgical procedure in the operating room. Recommendations were formulated for the nursing practice, education and research focussing on wearing a surgical face mask during a surgical procedure in the operating room. Reviewer’s conclusion: From the limited results it is unclear whether wearing surgical face masks during a surgical procedure in the operating room serve as a protective device for both surgical team and the patient. There is a need for further research. / Thesis (MCur)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013.

Surgical face masks have been designed to protect health care professionals from the splashes of the patients’ blood or body fluids and also to minimise the transmission of oro- and nasopharyngeal bacteria from the surgical team to the patient’s wounds, thereby decreasing the likelihood of postoperative surgical site infections during a surgical procedure. However, there are several ways in which surgical face masks could potentially contribute to contamination of the wound during a surgical procedure in the operating room. The objectives of this study were to explore and describe the effectiveness of surgical face masks as a protective barrier during a surgical procedure in the operating room in the public hospitals in the North West Province, South Africa and to formulate recommendations regarding surgical face masks worn by health care professionals during a surgical procedure in the operating rooms. A systematic review was conducted, followed by a quantitative, explorative, descriptive and contextual approach. The motivation for a systematic review was to search evidence on surgical face mask efficiency. A search strategy was conducted in February and March 2012 and the total initial search was 9,933 research articles. Screening of articles on effectiveness of surgical face masks during a surgical procedure was done. After six months the search was updated and the final sample of six relevant articles (n=6) was obtained. Studies that met the inclusion criteria were critically appraised based on the scores using standardised critical appraisal tools. The findings of this research project were synthesised and evaluated in order to come to conclusions. Conclusions were integrated and synthesised as the basis of developing a clear overview of the best quality empirical evidence about effectiveness of surgical face masks during a surgical procedure in the operating room. Recommendations were formulated for the nursing practice, education and research focussing on wearing a surgical face mask during a surgical procedure in the operating room. Reviewer’s conclusion: From the limited results it is unclear whether wearing surgical face masks during a surgical procedure in the operating room serve as a protective device for both surgical team and the patient. There is a need for further research. / Thesis (MCur)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013.

Introduktion: Ett av röntgensjuksköterskans ansvarsområden är att förebygga spridning av vårdrelaterade infektioner, och inom interventionell radiologi innebär detta att arbeta med aseptisk teknik. Munskydd har varit standard inom kirurgi i ett århundrade men inom interventionell radiologi saknas nationella riktlinjer för dess användande, trots att den sterila tekniken i övrigt är densamma. Syfte: Syftet med denna litteraturöversikt var att klargöra huruvida kirurgiska munskydd kan förebygga infektion hos patienten vid interventionell radiologi. Metod: Studien genomfördes som en allmän litteraturöversikt enligt Friberg (2017) för att sammanställa kunskapsläget inom området. Tolv kvantitativa artiklar hittades genom systematisk litteratursökning i PubMed. Artiklarna kvalitetsgranskades, analyserades och resultatet presenterades i två huvudkategorier. Resultat: Munskydd har ingen påvisad effekt att förebygga postoperativa sårinfektioner vid kirurgi eller coronarangiografi men förhindrar till viss del spridning av bakterier. Slutsats: Forskningen på munskydd är begränsad vilket gör det svårt att dra några slutsatser. Fler studier som fokuserar på munskydds effektivitet inom interventionell radiologi behövs. Författarna anser att munskydd inom interventionell radiologi inte bör vara obligatoriskt utan upp till varje avdelning att från fall till fall bestämma huruvida det ska användas eller inte. / Introduction: One of the radiographer's responsibilities is to prevent the spread of healthcare-associated infections. In interventional radiology, this means working with aseptic technique. Surgical face mask protection has been the standard of surgery for a century, but in interventional radiology there are no national guidelines for its use, even though the sterile technique is the same. Aim: The aim of this study was to clarify whether surgical face masks prevent infection in patient in interventional radiology. Methodology: A literature review (Friberg, 2017) has been done to identify the current knowledge in the field. The study includes twelve quantitative articles collected through a systematic literature search in PubMed. After quality review the articles were analyzed and presented into two main categories. Result: Concerning postoperative wound infections, there is no strong evidence to prove that using surgical face masks prevents infections during surgery or coronary angiography. However, using such mask prevents the spread of bacteria to some extent. Conclusion: Research on oral protection is limited, making it difficult to draw any conclusions. A set of new tests are needed to identify the effect of using mask in today’s interventional radiology. Based on the results of the studies, it can be concluded that: generally, mouth protection within interventional radiology should not be mandatory. However, each radiology department need to consider the operating condition and status of the patient and decide if the personal should follow mouth protection process.