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Chapter 4 Facility and Equipment Maintenance – Cleaning for Disease Control 55

and working under a vented hood is recommended gallon dilution. It can be corrosive to surgical
when dealing with these products. instruments, so a detergent made to clean instru-
6. Glutaraldehyde is a chemical sterilizing agent that is ments is recommended.
broad‐spectrum in nature. It is used on endoscopic 4. Chloroxylenol at 3% is an antiseptic used when
instruments but will damage living tissues. It must be patients are allergic to povidone‐iodine or chlorhex-
double rinsed with sterile water before contact with idine. It is used as a surgical scrub, oral mouth wash,
living tissues. and a wound lavage agent. It is bacteriostatic for 6
7. Phenols are potent disinfectants and antiseptics – hours after application. It is non‐toxic to avians and
Lysol and essential oils like tea tree oil – should mammals.
never be used around or on cats as they are toxic. 5. Hydrogen peroxide – 3% hydrogen peroxide,
Rescue™ 4.25% concentration. At 3%, hydrogen
Antiseptics are disinfecting chemicals that are used to
reduce the number of microbes on living tissues. Often peroxide is a mild antiseptic. It is often used to
flush out wounds when first presented. The bub-
you will hear people refer to a surgical scrub on an bling action is caused by the enzyme catalase, found
animal as being “sterile.” It really isn’t sterile; it is very in blood and cells which converts hydrogen per-
clean but not sterile. If you were to “sterilize” tissue, it oxide into water and oxygen. Usually a onetime
would die. Antiseptics can have a detergent mixed in application as studies have shown that it can destroy
with the chemical to produce suds. This is used to tell healthy tissue. Hydrogen peroxide is also a
where you have scrubbed and where you have missed! bleaching agent that will remove bloodstains from
Many are a broad‐spectrum disinfectants meaning they hair and clothing.
can destroy almost all pathogens depending on contact
time. Some will be used full strength and others will Sterilization is the destruction of microbes, achieved
need to be diluted. Remember to read the label! Some with autoclaves or gas. Autoclaves are machines that use
commonly used antiseptics are as follow. pressure, steam, and time to kill microbes; gas sterilizers
utilize ethylene oxide, humidity, and time. More
1. Alcohol (isopropyl or ethyl) is used at 70% information about sterilization techniques can be found
concentration. It is purchased at this strength or it in Chapter 14 on surgical techniques. Maintenance
can be purchased at 90–100% in which case you information on the autoclave is given later in this chapter.
would have to dilute it to 70%. Alcohol destroys
bacteria and viruses by dehydrating them. It is a
good degreaser and is used to disinfect thermome-
ters, injection sites, and to dry surgical sites. Hand Learning Exercise
sanitizers are made up of 70% ethyl alcohol and are
effective on 99.9% of the bacteria on hands 30 From the list of disinfectants and antiseptics
seconds after application and 99.99–99.999% in 1 select the most appropriate one for the scenario
minute, demonstrating that contact time is impor- described in the table. You may use more than
tant when using antiseptics. one.
2. Povidone‐iodine is used at 2% dilution. It is a Disinfectant
broad‐spectrum antiseptic that is used for surgery. Scenario or antiseptic
There are two preparations: a scrub solution that Disinfecting sharp surgical
will suds up and is used to scrub the skin before a instruments
surgical procedure; and a thinner solution that is Scrubbing surgical site on a patient
further diluted 1 : 10 and sprayed or painted on
intact skin before surgery starts. It can also be used Disinfecting a kennel
at 0.35% dilution (17.5 mL of 10% povidone‐iodine Lavaging a wound
in 500 mL of normal saline) as a lavage for wounds. Sterilizing endoscopic equipment
It is a brown color and stains fur, is deactivated by A good degreaser or drying agent
organic debris and alcohol, so it has fallen out of
favor in some veterinary clinics. Residual effects last
4–6 hours.
3. Chlorhexidine – Nolvasan™, Hibiclens™ – both Hospital Waste – Non‐
come in scrubs or solutions. It is not deactivated by
alcohol or organic materials; it is inhibited by soaps Hazardous versus Hazardous
and pH changes. It is used full strength as a surgical
scrub, diluted 1 : 40 to lavage wounds, and has a Veterinary practice can generate a great deal of waste. It
2‐day residual effect. It can be used as a broad‐spec- is usually divided into two categories: non‐hazardous and
trum antiseptic on inanimate objects at a 3 oz per hazardous. Hazardous waste is anything that can harm