EVALUATION FOR SURGICAL SCRUB METHODS FOR LARGE ANIMAL SURGEONS

Objective-The objective of this study was to determine the effectivene ss of a 5-minute surgical scrub using either a one-brush or a two-brus h technique in clean and dirty surgical procedures, and to compare the efficacy of povidone iodine with chlorhexidine as surgical scrub solu tions. Study Design-Prospective clinical trial. Methods-Nine veterinar ians scrubbed their hands on eight separate occasions using either pov idone iodine or chlorhexidine gluconate. A 5-minute scrub and either a one-brush or two-brush technique used in both clean and dirty operati ons were evaluated by taking glove juice samples before scrubbing, imm ediately after scrubbing, and 30, 60, 90, and 120 minutes after scrubb ing. Glove juice samples were cultured and the colonies were counted. Percent reductions of bacterial forming units were calculated for all eight scrub procedures. Results-All scrub procedures provided an adequ ate percent reduction in colony forming units (CFU) during the 2-hour sampling period. The number of CFU immediately after scrubbing were si gnificantly lower than prescrub. At 120 minutes, there were significan tly fewer CFUs than presecrub, but there were more than immediately af ter scrubbing. No significant difference in reduction in CFUs were det ected between one-brush and two-brush technique. Both chlorhexidine an d povidone iodine scrub solutions adequately reduced bacterial colony counts for 120 minutes after scrubbing regardless of the amount of con tamination before skin preparation. Conclusions-Bacterial counts after a hand scrub procedure using a one-brush technique were not significa ntly different than after a procedure that used a two-brush technique. Povidone iodine and chlorhexidine are equally effectively in decreasi ng bacterial numbers on the skin, given a variety of contamination lev els present before the scrub procedure. Clinical Relevance-Surgeons ma y use either chlorhexidine or povidone iodine for antiseptic preparati on of their hands before surgery. A two-brush technique is not necessa ry. (C) Copyright 1997 by The American College of Veterinary Surgeons.