What term describes the removal of all viable microorganisms including spores?

The term that accurately describes the removal of all viable microorganisms, including spores, is sterilization. Sterilization is a critical process in healthcare and sterile processing, as it ensures that instruments, equipment, and surfaces are free from any living microbial presence, including the most resistant forms such as bacterial spores.

In contrast to other methods, sterilization represents the highest level of microbial destruction and is essential for items that come into direct contact with sterile tissues or the vascular system, where even a single viable organism could pose a significant risk of infection.

Disinfection refers to the elimination of many or all pathogenic microorganisms, but it does not necessarily kill all microorganisms, particularly spores. Sanitation involves reducing the number of microorganisms to a safe level according to public health standards, which is less rigorous than sterilization. Asepsis involves practices that prevent contamination by pathogens but do not specifically entail the complete elimination of all microorganisms as sterilization does.