Specialists' opinion regarding factors related to wet loads after steam sterilization.

BACKGROUND

Episodes of wet loads after steam sterilization are frequent; however, the factors related to these events are still unclear.

AIM: To evaluate the strength of relationship of factors related to wet loads after steam sterilization.

METHODS

By adapting the Delphi technique, steam sterilization specialists assigned a score for the relation strength of a list of 37 factors (f.01-37) related to wet load, grouped into: cycle parameters, sterilizer, steam, load, and environment. Sixty-seven specialists distributed on five continents participated in all phases of this study.

FINDINGS: Certain factors related to wet loads are better established, such as vacuum depth in the drying phase, whereas others are still controversial, such as those related to the environment. The factor that obtained the highest average score was the vacuum depth in the drying phase (f.12), with a value of 4.28, and the lowest score of 2.66 was obtained in the delay time when the set reaches the value of vacuum or steam in the conditioning phase (f.05).

CONCLUSION

Specialists' opinions diverge in most of the factors related to the occurrence of wet loads. The results obtained will enable further research and the establishment of normative requirements.