Aseptic Technique

Aseptic technique is the set of practices used to keep a person, object or area free from disease-causing microorganisms such as bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites, most critically in surgery and other invasive medical care. It falls into medical and surgical categories and grew out of the antiseptic methods pioneered in the nineteenth century, when practices such as sterilizing surgical instruments and wearing surgical gloves during operations first came into use. Its goal is to prevent infection rather than to achieve absolute sterility, and even a properly maintained aseptic field can still develop a non-infectious, sterile inflammation, but the discipline of asepsis, applied consistently in an operating room or other clinical setting, remains a foundation of infection prevention in modern medicine.