Tech in Surgery Prep / Unit 6 TSC 130 worked example, 60 to 90 seconds
How Steam Sterilizes
The idea
Saturated steam under pressure is the most widely used and most dependable sterilization method, and it kills by heating every surface it touches.
In practice
Steam sterilization has four parameters, and all four must be met. First, steam: dry saturated steam, which carries heat efficiently. Second, pressure, which is the means of reaching temperatures above boiling. Third, temperature: the two common sterilizing temperatures are one hundred twenty-one and one hundred thirty-two degrees Celsius. Fourth, time: each temperature must be held for a minimum time, which depends on the item, whether it is wrapped, and the type of sterilizer. Moist heat kills by destroying the proteins that microbes need.
Where people slip
It is the temperature, held for the right time with steam in contact, that kills spores; pressure alone does nothing. Exact cycle times come from the sterilizer and device manufacturers' instructions, not from memory.
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