Abstract: Surgical hand preparation is mandatory prior surgery, either with antimicrobial soap or alcohol-based formulations. Alcohol-based handrubs work faster than medicated soap and water, are less irritating to skin, and avoid recontamination by contaminated water while rinsing hands. Alcohol-based handrubs should be applied using techniques recommended by the World Health Organization or national standards. The issue of spores on surgeon's hands is an unresolved issue if alcohol-based formulations are used. Clostridia spp, in particular C. perfringens and C. difficile, may raise concerns since spores are not destroyed by alcohol. However, postoperative clostridial wound sepsis is very rare. There are few data on the interaction between emollients and hand hygiene agents, but healthy skin is important, since several outbreaks have been traced to colonization of skin injuries to the hands of surgeons and operating room nurses. The optimal hand hygiene technique has not been well established, but proper hand hygiene technique leads to improved antimicrobial killing.
Publication Year: 2017
Publication Date: 2017-05-01
Language: en
Type: other
Indexed In: ['crossref']
Access and Citation
Cited By Count: 2
AI Researcher Chatbot
Get quick answers to your questions about the article from our AI researcher chatbot