Surgical site infections are a common and devastating complication of surgery in resource-limited areas like Bangladesh. Infection rates in orthopedic surgeries can exceed 15%, which is more than ten times that seen in higher resource settings. Existing methods, such as antibiotics, often fail to control these infections and can lead to antibiotic resistance.

This study will explore an emerging alternative: the use of Far-UVC light, a type of germicidal ultraviolet light, to reduce the risk of infections in operating rooms at a public hospital in Dhaka. The technology has been studied in laboratories for years, researchers say, but no one has yet shown whether it can prevent infections in patients in real-world settings.

The year-long study will compare patient outcomes in operating rooms randomly assigned either Far-UVC lamps or placebo lamps.

“We hope this trial provides the evidence base for scaling far-UVC to operating rooms across Bangladesh and similar settings,” said co-Principal Investigator and Resident Physician Grant Higerd-Rusli, MD, PhD.

“This study could establish far-UVC as a powerful new tool to increase surgical safety in low-resource settings where advanced ventilation systems remain unavailable. This work also lays the groundwork for using far-UVC to prevent transmission of pathogens through the air more broadly, including for respiratory pathogens like SARS-CoV-2 and potential future pandemic pathogens,” he continued.

Principal Investigators:

Grant Higerd-Rusli, MD, PhD, Resident Physician

Seth Ari Sim-Son Hoffman, MD, MS, Instructor

Stephen Luby, MD, Professor of Medicine

Funders:

Stanford Center for Innovation in Global Health

Stanford Department of Surgery