define medical asepsis and surgical
surgical asepsis the exclusion of all microorganisms before they can enter an open surgical wound or contaminate a sterile field during surgery. See accompanying table. Measures taken include sterilization of all instruments, drapes, and all other inanimate objects that may come in contact with the surgical wound.
1 the absence of germs. 2 medical asepsis, procedures used to reduce the number of microorganisms and prevent their spread. Examples include handwashing and no touch dressing technique. 3 surgical asepsis, procedures used to eliminate any microorganisms; sterile technique. An example is sterilization of surgical instruments. aseptic, adj.