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General Orthopaedics: J. Wilson and D. Tate Can pre-operative skin marking transfer methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus between patients?: A LABORATORY EXPERIMENT J Bone Joint Surg Br 2006; 88-B: 541-542 [Abstract] [Full text] [PDF]

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Linking pre-operative skin marking with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus

S THOMAS, MRCS   (12 May 2006)

The possible link between MRSA and marker pens has been studied before

BS Goldie   (20 April 2006)

Use Markers Exclusively for Ring Fenced Wards

Kedar J Deogaonkar, Mark WD Lewis   (11 April 2006)

Linking pre-operative skin marking with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus 12 May 2006
S THOMAS, MRCS, CLINICAL FELLOW NORTH TYNESIDE HOSPITAL,NORTH SHIELDS,TYNE AND WEAR,UK. Send letter to journal: Re: Linking pre-operative skin marking with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus thomassuresh{at}rediffmail.com S THOMAS, MRCS	Sir, I would like to clarify a few points with the authors in relation to this paper: 1. The Viomedex pens are provided for a single use and discard policy which then should not contribute to the transmission of MRSA between patients. If these pens are used in clinical practice as per the policy, the chances of transmission of infection can be ignored. 2. All the elective patients in our trusts are screened for MRSA pre-operatively, which further reduces the chances of any cross transmission. If these simple rules are followed, the use of Viomedex pens will not increase the cross infection rates of MRSA. S. Thomas, MRCS, Clinical Fellow, North Tyneside Hospital, Tyne and Wear, UK.
The possible link between MRSA and marker pens has been studied before 20 April 2006
BS Goldie Send letter to journal: Re: The possible link between MRSA and marker pens has been studied before Boyd.Goldie{at}whippsx.nhs.uk BS Goldie	Sir, I read this article with interest. It states in the abstract that the authors were not aware of any investigation regarding the risk of transferring MRSA between patients by a skin marker. One wonders why they did not reference our article, "The transmission of MRSA via orthopaedic marking pens - fact or fiction?" by RJ Thomas, C Goodbourne, and B Goldie. Annals of The Royal College of Surgeons of England 2004;86:51-2? B.S. Goldie
Use Markers Exclusively for Ring Fenced Wards 11 April 2006
Kedar J Deogaonkar, Specialist Registrar Royal Gwent Hospital, Mark WD Lewis Send letter to journal: Re: Use Markers Exclusively for Ring Fenced Wards kedar_deogao{at}yahoo.com Kedar J Deogaonkar, et al.	Sir, We read this article with interest. In our hospital, a ring fenced ward is used for elective patients. We ensure that the patients on this elective ward are MRSA negative with prior swabbing. We also ensure that the marker pen used to mark these patients is alcohol based. Moreover, the marker pens are exclusive to this ward and there is no mixing with those used in different wards (which are not ring fenced). Markers used in non-ring fenced wards should not be used for ring fenced wards. This would help to prevent the inadvertent spread of MRSA, as suggested in this article. This article has provided the necessary evidence base for our current practice. K.J. Deogaonkar, Specialist Registrar, M.W.D. Lewis, Royal Gwent Hospital, Newport, UK.