Asepsis

Definition

Asepsis is a freedom from infection or infectious material and the absence of viable pathogenic organisms. Medical asepsis the use of practices aimed at destroying pathological organisms after they leave the body,employed in the care of patients with infectious diseases to prevent reinfection of the patient and to avoid the spread of infection from one person to another. This is achieved by isolation precautions, in which the objects in the patient's environment are protected from contamination or disinfected as soon as possible after contamination. Surgical asepsis the exclusion of all microorganisms before they can enter an open surgical wound or contaminate a sterile field during surgery. See accompanying table. Measures taken include sterilization of all instruments, drapes, and all other inanimate objects that may come in contact with the surgical wound. All personnel coming in contact with the sterile field perform a surgical hand scrub with an antimicrobial agent and put on a surgical gown and gloves.

Purpose

Aseptic technique is employed to maximize and maintain asepsis, the absence of pathogenic organisms, in the clinical setting. The goals of aseptic technique are to protect the patient from infection and to prevent the spread of pathogens. Often, practices that clean (remove dirt and other impurities), sanitize (reduce the number of microorganisms to safe levels), or disinfect (remove most microorganisms but not highly resistant ones) are not sufficient to prevent infection.