Sterilization, in a surgical and perioperative context, is any process that removes, kills or deactivates every form of microbial life on an instrument or surface, including bacteria, fungi, spores and viruses, so it can be used safely inside the body. Instrument sterilization by boiling, dry heat and flame was introduced around 1883 by Octave Terrillon, and Ernst von Bergmann and Curt Schimmelbusch established steam sterilization in surgical practice in 1886; Herbert E. Smith demonstrated the Arnold Steam Cooker for instrument sterilization in 1890, leading to the Arnold Sterilizer within the following year. Modern hospitals rely chiefly on pressurized steam sterilization, typically at 121 to 134 degrees Celsius for three to thirty minutes, dry heat around 160 degrees Celsius for heat-stable items, and chemical sterilants such as ethylene oxide, which accounts for roughly seventy percent of sterilization procedures on heat-sensitive equipment.
Facts
Origin YearSource states this circa (Wikipedia: Somewhere around 1882); recorded as circa, not exact. FAQs
Why are some medical instruments not sterilized with steam?
Plastics and other heat- or moisture-sensitive devices need low-temperature methods such as ethylene oxide gas instead.
Most medical and surgical devices used in healthcare facilities are made of heat-stable materials, so they are sterilized with heat, mainly steam. Since 1950, however, more devices and instruments have been made of materials such as plastics that need low-temperature sterilization. Ethylene oxide gas has been used since the 1950s for heat- and moisture-sensitive devices, and newer low-temperature systems, for example hydrogen peroxide gas plasma, peracetic acid immersion and ozone, have since been developed. This follows the account of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in its 2008 sterilization guideline.
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Octave Terrillon
Wikimedia FoundationLead section, final paragraph, Terrillon 1882 sentence
Somewhere around 1882 he advocated the procedure of using boiling water, a heat sterilisation technique for disinfecting surgical instruments.
- Clinical use status
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