Thermal Comfort Level of Patients and Surgical Staff in Operating Rooms at Nordic Hospital

Abstract

In healthcare facilities and hospital environment, it is essential to enable thermal comfort for occupants. Unstable thermal conditions in the operating room (OR) will influence the performance of surgical staff and the infection possibility of patients. In this study, the thermal comfort of patients and surgical staff was measured with two ventilation solutions at St. Olavs hospital ORs in Trondheim, Norway. Research methods include thermal environment measurements during mock (imitation) surgery, a survey among surgical staff, and observation during a real operation. The results show that the mean air velocity near occupants in mixing ventilation (MV) OR was low (max 0,08 m/s) and in laminar air flow (LAF) ventilation OR considerably higher, 0,36 m/s. In conclusion, there was good general thermal comfort of surgical staff in LAF OR, but the surgical staff felt mainly uncomfortable in MV OR.