How can the integrity of sterile packages be verified?

Verifying the integrity of sterile packages is critical to maintaining sterility and ensuring that supplies are safe for use in medical procedures. Inspecting for tears, moisture, or damage directly assesses the physical condition of the packaging. If the package is torn or compromised in any way, it may allow microorganisms to enter, which would invalidate its sterility.

Physical signs of damage, such as tears or moisture, are indicators that the sterility may have been breached, thus necessitating that packages with such defects should not be used. This visual inspection is a primary practice in sterile processing to confirm that the items inside remain uncontaminated.

The other options, while related to the broader topic of sterility and packaging, do not provide a direct and effective means to assess the current state of the package itself. Checking the contents for sterility is not feasible since the result of sterility testing often takes time; similarly, verifying procedures used for packaging and examining weight does not offer a direct evaluation of physical protection.