A lot happens behind the scenes before patients are wheeled into the operating room at Texas Children’s Hospital to undergo surgery. Technicians disinfect the OR from top to bottom and a team of people with the Sterile Processing Department clean, prepare, assemble and sterilize surgical instruments for patient care.
At Texas Children’s Main OR in the Medical Center, the sterile processing team handles instruments for close to 80 procedures a day Monday through Friday and around 15 procedures on the weekends. The procedures can require anywhere from two to 12 sets of instruments each with a numerous amount of single instruments.
The team processes more than 17,000 instruments a day. To be able to handle this and keep up with the demands there are 3,200 plus sets of instruments. Sterilization of the instrument sets can be accomplished by steam, hydrogen peroxide, or ethylene oxide. Each requires special quality assurance monitoring and designated time for completion.
There are also operating rooms designated for cardiovascular cases, at Wallace Tower, Texas Children’s Hospital West Campus and Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands that have their own sterile processing areas.
Click here to watch Channel 11 KHOU’s story about Texas Children’s sterile processing team.