Environmental contamination by use of a closed system device
Research type
Research Study
Full title
A pilot study investigating environmental contamination when handling Bolus Systemic Anti-Cancer Therapy (SACT): the use of a closed system device versus standard administration
IRAS ID
320034
Contact name
Ruth Hull
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Velindre University NHS Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 7 months, 31 days
Research summary
Chemotherapy administration may lead to environmental contamination and risks of exposure for oncology nurses and patients resulting in serious health outcomes. Closed system transfer devices are needle-free physical systems used in the administration of anti-cancer drugs. They prevent the transfer of environmental contaminants into the system or vapour outside the system. Whilst there is research suggesting no added benefit from their use, a substantial body of research investigating their use in various clinical settings reported lower limits of detected contamination by use of a device. The NHS Pharmaceutical Quality Assurance Committee recommends their use in clinical areas to prevent environmental exposure from administration of anti-cancer drugs. Recently, there has been interest across UK cancer centres to implement these devices, however this is not current practice at one cancer centre. Further work is required on environmental contaminants to justify their use. We aim to investigate if environmental contamination when administering intravenous chemotherapy at the day unit may be reduced by the use of a closed system device when compared with standard administration. Over seven months, volunteer registered nurses will be trained to use the closed system device as part of the project. Swabs of chemotherapy infusion pumps will be carried out by registered nurses to detect contamination. This will occur after cleaning and administration of chemotherapy by using the standard practice and by the use of a closed system device. A data collection form will be used to record the time taken to carry out swabs, if the time increases by use of the device, and any other potential issues experienced by nurses when using the device. Findings will be used to consider whether current practice needs reviewing and/or to inform a decision to implement these devices at Velindre Cancer Centre. This is a single-centre study funded by Velindre University NHS Trust.
REC name
East Midlands - Derby Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
23/EM/0153
Date of REC Opinion
4 Jul 2023
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion