3M Stopcock Contamination Risks Anesthesia Delivery
Know the contamination risks associated with anesthesia delivery.

The truth about stopcock contamination

  • Over the years, anesthesia providers have taken on increasing responsibility for preventing health care-associated infections (HAIs). Because of this, many interventions have been put in place to try to reduce patient complications. Despite best efforts, microorganisms from anesthesia providers hands and equipment commonly serve as significant sources for IV stopcock contamination associated with anesthesia delivery.1,2 Due to these alarming findings, Harriet W. Hopf, MD concludes each anesthesia provider should "take stock of her/his own intraoperative practices and commit to reducing pathogen transmission and cross-contamination from provider hands, the anesthetic workspace and IV access ports."3

  • Stopcock Bacterial Transmission Stopcocks Tested Postive

    More than 1 in 10 stopcocks tested positive for bacteria2

  • Stopcock Bacterial Transmission from Sterile Work Areas

    Transmission of bacteria from anesthesia work areas to sterile stopcocks occurred in 32% of cases.1

  • Stopcock Bacterial Transmission Identified Anesthesia Provider

    IV stopcock sets were contaminated in 11.5% of cases, and anesthesia providers were identified as the origin of this transmission in 47% of cases.2

  • Stopcock Bacterial Transmission Stopcocks Not Disinfected

    85% of stopcocks were not disinfected before access.4


Sources of contamination

  • Sources of contamination

Anesthesia work area

17% of OR surfaces contain bacterial pathogens despite routine terminal cleaning protocols being in place.6

Clinician's hands

Hands carry a relatively high count of resident and transient bacteria.7

Stopcock & Manifold

Stopcocks represent an important potential portal of entry for microorganisms into vascular access catheters and IV fluids.5

IV insertion site

Extraluminal contamination happens when bacteria originating on the surface of the skin migrates along the outside of the catheter and enters through the insertion point.

Cover stopcocks and manifolds with confidence

3M Curos Stopper Disinfection Caps Covers Stopcocks
See 3M™ Curos™ Stopper Disinfecting Caps in Action
  • 3M Curos Stopper Cap Disinfection Time
    Disinfection time

    Disinfects in 1 minute. Protects open female luers for up to 7 days if not removed.

  • 3M Curos Stopper Cap Color Identification
    Colored bright to disinfect right

    Are brightly colored making it easy to verify that a port is clean at a glance and making it easy to measure compliance with protocol.

  • 3M Curos Stopper Cap Dispensing Accessibility
    Convenient dispensing

    Are dispensed as individual caps or on a convenient 5-cap strip, which can be hung from I.V. poles for easy access.

  • 3M Curos Stopper Cap Reduces Microbes
    Microbe reduction

    Achieved a 99.99% reduction in 6 microbes commonly associated with central line-associated bloodstream infections.8,9


  • 3M Curos Stopper Cap Product Flyer
    3M Curos Stopper Cap Product flyer
  • 3M Curos Stopper Cap Contamination Statistics PDF
    Discover the latest contamination statistics
  • 3M Curos Stopper Cap Demonstration Request
    Request a demo at your facility

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  • Sources:
    1. Loftus RW, Koff MD, Burchman CC, Schwartzman JD, Thorum V, Read ME, Wood TA, Beach ML. Transmission of pathogenic bacterial organisms in the anesthesia work area. Anesthesiology. 2008;109:399-407. [PubMed]
    2. Loftus RW, Muffly MK, Brown JR, Beach ML, Koff MD, Corwin HL, Surgenor SD, Kirkland KB, Yeager MP. Hand contamination of anesthesia providers is an important risk factor for intraoperative bacterial transmission. Anesth Analg. 2011;112:98-105. [PubMed]
    3. Hopf, H. W. (2015). Bacterial Reservoirs in the Operating Room. Anesthesia & Analgesia, 120(4), 700-702. doi:10.1213/ane.0000000000000247
    4. Munoz-Price LS, Lubarsky DA, Arheart KL, Prado G, Cleary T, Fajardo-Aquino Y, Depascale D, Eber S, Carling P, Birnbach DJ. Interactions between anesthesiologists and the environment while providing anesthesia care in the operating room. Am J Infect Control 2013;41:922-4
    5. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. HICPAC Guideline For The Prevention Of Intravascular Catheter-Related Infections http://hica.jp/cdcguideline/Draft_IV_Guideline2002.pdf. Accessed February 19, 2018.
    6. Munoz-Price LS, Birnbach DJ, Lubarsky DA, Arheart KL, Fajardo-Aquino Y, Rosalsky M, et al. Decreasing operating room environmental pathogen contamination through improved cleaning practice. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2012;33:897-904.
    7. Stackhouse RA, Beers R, Brown D, Brown M, Greene E., McCann ME, et al. and the ASA Committee on Occupational Health. Task Force on Infection Control. Recommendations for infection control for the practice of anesthesiology (Third Edition). Available from: http://www.asahq.org/For-Members/Standards-Guidelines-and-Statements.aspx#rec (refer to infection control section). Accessed February 19, 2018
    8. For more information regarding organisms associated with central line-associated bloodstream infections, refer to: Sievert, D. M., Ricks, P., Edwards, J. R., Schneider, A., Patel, J., Srinivasan, A., . . . Fridkin, S. (2013). Antimicrobial- Resistant Pathogens Associated with Healthcare-Associated Infections: Summary of Data Reported to the National Healthcare Safety Network at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2009-2010. Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology, 34(01), 1-14. doi:10.1086/668770.
    9. Data reflects in vitro findings on Curos™ Disinfecting Port Protectors

    Social sources:
    1. Loftus RW, Koff MD, Burchman CC, Schwartzman JD, Thorum V, Read ME, Wood TA, Beach ML. Transmission of pathogenic bacterial organisms in the anesthesia work area. Anesthesiology. 2008;109:399–407.
    2. Loftus RW, Muffly MK, Brown JR, Beach ML, Koff MD, Corwin HL, Surgenor SD, Kirkland KB, Yeager MP. Hand contamination of anesthesia providers is an important risk factor for intraoperative bacterial transmission. Anesth Analg. 2011;112:98–105.
    3. Munoz-Price LS, Lubarsky DA, Arheart KL, Prado G, Cleary T, Fajardo-Aquino Y, Depascale D, Eber S, Carling P, Birnbach DJ. Interactions between anesthesiologists and the environment while providing anesthesia care in the operating room. Am J Infect Control 2013;41:922–4
    4. Loftus, R. W., Muffly, M. K., Brown, J. R., Beach, M. L., Koff, M. D., Corwin, H. L., . . . Yeager, M. P. (2010). Hand contamination of anesthesia providers is an important risk factor for intraoperative bacterial transmission. Anesth Analg, 112(1), 98-105. doi:10.1213/ANE.0b013e3181e7ce18