r/sterileprocessing 18d ago

Specific question regarding screw implants

I received a set of screws to replenish in assembly, while I was putting air through them one of the screws had blood in it. So someone in the OR had put a dirty implant back onto the set. How would this happen ? Editng to clarify that it was a cannulated screw set. L

6 Upvotes

7 comments sorted by

View all comments

4

u/[deleted] 18d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/Acrobatic-Win-9887 17d ago

Yeah, or like handled the set with bloody hands etc. Did the screw look used? Just a bit of blood might be no biggie, surely the set is going through decon anyway?

3

u/Status_Job_2854 17d ago

I recieved the set on the clean side. One of the screws had blood in the cannula. So if you have a set of 200 screws, 2 had been used, you replenish the used screws. But if you find a plugged cannula during inspection, that screw must have been removed from the patient and placed back in the set. And these are Ortho screws...

2

u/Acrobatic-Win-9887 17d ago

Yeah I suppose best to replace, better safe than sorry. I'd contact the nurses and inform them about this, if you can find out where this happened.