Tag: Skin Preparation

SSI incidence, risk factors in total knees

Editor's Note In this 9-year prospective cohort study from Spain, researchers identified surgical site infection (SSI) risk factors that showed the necessity  to strictly comply with wound decontamination and patient preparation protocols, reduce the length of surgical time, and identify patients requiring comprehensive monitoring. This analysis of 1,969 patients who…

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By: Judy Mathias
November 29, 2018
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Wearing long sleeves to prep decreases airborne contaminants

Editor's Note Wearing long sleeves with gloves while prepping a patient in the OR decreased large-particle and microbial shedding compared with prepping with bare arms, in this study. A mock patient skin prep was performed in 3 different ORs. A long-sleeved gown and gloves or bare arms were used to…

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By: Judy Mathias
December 12, 2017
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Risk assessment system from private industry identifies SSI risks in ASCs

Editor's Note A risk-assessment system designed to avoid harm in private industry (ie, Socio-Technical Probabilistic Risk Assessment [ST-PRA]), was used by Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)-funded researchers to identify practices likely to pose infection risks in ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs). The ST-PRA ranks failure points (events) according to…

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By: Judy Mathias
September 20, 2017
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Infection control practices linked to lower SSI rates

Editor's Note Infection control practices that focus on perioperative patient skin and wound hygiene and transparent display of surgical site infection (SSI) data, not OR attire policies, were associated with lower SSI rates in this multi-center study. A total of 20 American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program…

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By: Judy Mathias
September 14, 2017
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OR fires and surgical skin prep

Editor's Note In this ex vivo study, alcohol-based surgical skin preparations fueled OR fires in common clinical scenarios. No fires occurred with nonalcohol-based preparations. Alcohol-based preparations caused flash flames at 0 minutes in 22% and at 3 minutes in 10% of tests. Testing pooling of alcohol-based preparations, fires occurred in…

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By: Judy Mathias
June 22, 2017
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Study: OR fires linked to alcohol-based skin preps

Editor's Note In this experimental study, alcohol-based skin preps fueled OR fires in common clinical scenarios. No fires occurred with nonalcohol-based preps; however, alcohol-based preps caused flash flames at 0 minutes in 22% and at 3 minutes in 10% of tests. Pooling of alcohol-based preps caused fires in 38% at…

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By: Judy Mathias
February 14, 2017
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FDA warns of allergic reactions to CHG

Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on February 2 issued a warning that rare but serious allergic reactions have been reported with use of chlorhexidine gluconate (CHG). The FDA is requesting that manufacturers add a warning label about this risk to over-the-counter (OTC) products containing CHG. CHG is…

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By: Judy Mathias
February 6, 2017
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SSIs fall sharply with team-based protocol changes

Surgical site infections (SSIs) are a major cause of morbidity in surgical patients, leading to increased length of stay and healthcare costs. No single intervention has demonstrated efficacy in reducing SSIs. When SSIs rose to a rate of 16.3% in 2013 at St Elizabeth Boardman Hospital in Boardman, Ohio, perioperative…

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By: OR Manager
December 14, 2016
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Chlorhexidine better than triclosan for skin prep

Editor's Note Chlorhexidine is the best antiseptic for skin prep when a prolonged effect is needed, such as when implanting medical devices or performing surgical procedures, this study finds. Of 135 healthy volunteers tested, at 24 hours: unscrubbed control bacterial counts were 288 CFU/cm2 scrubbed control counts were 96 CFU/cm2…

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By: Judy Mathias
November 30, 2016
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CDC updates guidelines on CHG dressings

Editor's Note The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is accepting comments on the draft update to its recommendations for the use of chlorhexidine (CHG)-impregnated dressings to prevent intravascular catheter-related infections. The draft addresses new and updated strategies and is based on a review of the evidence since 2010…

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By: Judy Mathias
November 29, 2016
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