Surgical Infection Prevention

A postop infection can cause pain, delayed healing, additional surgery, prolonged antibiotic therapy, and financial stress for pet owners.

That’s why at Lehigh Regional Veterinary Surgical Specialists (LRVSS) in Bethlehem, PA, infection prevention is built into every step of surgery, not just an afterthought.

While no protocol can completely eliminate infection risk, we take multiple steps to lower that risk as much as possible.

Our current infection rate is extremely low, and we continue refining our protocols to keep it that way.

Preventing infection requires a comprehensive approach that extends far beyond sterile instruments – it takes a consistent system followed by every member of the surgical team, every time.

How does LRVSS keep surgery patients safe from infection?

• Strict dress code: surgeons and nurses wear dedicated surgical attire: caps, masks, and sterile gowns for every surgery. No one enters an OR without a cap and mask. This rule has no exceptions.
• Surgeon hand prep: before every surgery, the surgical team “scrubs” their hands with a surgical alcohol preparation.
• Patient skin prep: all patients’ skin is scrubbed with chlorhexidine. TPLO and other orthopedic patients receive an additional scrub with betadine. The skin is then covered with a sticky, germ-blocking film before the incision is made.
• Instrument & equipment prep: depending on the equipment, we use 2 different sterilization processes (steam vs. “gas”).
• Air quality control: our ORs use a triple-stage air filtration system, including HEPA filters, to keep the surgical environment as clean as possible.
• Limited OR traffic: we keep the number of people entering and exiting the OR to a minimum during surgery, since each open door increases contamination risk.
• Between-case OR cleaning: every OR is fully disinfected after each surgery, and again at the end of the surgery day.
• Hospital-wide disinfection: the entire practice is cleaned and disinfected throughout the day, and again at the end of the surgery day.
• Dog walk area care: our enclosed, dedicated dog walk area is disinfected on a regular schedule to reduce outside contamination.
• Strict E collar policy: besides rare exceptions, we strongly recommend leaving the plastic cone around your pet’s head until the incision is completely healed (2-3 weeks). Licking is the #1 reason for infections, and it’s totally preventable.
• Sterile hallway buffer: LRVSS is one of the few surgical practices with a sterile hallway separating the ORs from the rest of the hospital.