Studies of the surgical scrub

The Australian and New Zealand Journal of Surgery
C PoonB R Tulloh

Abstract

To evaluate the effectiveness of various scrub techniques in reducing bacterial skin flora, the present study was developed in three stages. Each stage involved fingertip bacterial colony counts measured before, immediately after and 30 min after a variety of handwashing techniques using 10% povidone iodine solution. The first compared 1, 2 or 3 non-timed washes from fingertips to elbows in 10 volunteers. The second compared two volunteers scrubbing for equal durations with or without friction rubbing, while the third involved 15 volunteers who each scrubbed for different time intervals. The first stage showed that a single wash episode failed to provide lasting bacterial colony count reductions on fingertip cultures. The second showed that enduring colony count reductions occur whether friction rubbing of the hands was used or not, and the third showed that a 30 s wash was as effective as washing for longer periods in reducing fingertip flora. These findings suggest that prolonged vigorous pre-operative scrubbing is unnecessary, although more than a cursory wash is required to produce lasting fingertip antisepsis.

References

Jun 1, 1991·The British Journal of Surgery·M O'ShaughnessyH F Given
Feb 1, 1990·The British Journal of Surgery·R D DoddsM H Thomas
Jul 1, 1986·The Journal of Hospital Infection·G Reybrouck
Feb 1, 1988·The Journal of Hospital Infection·M Rotter

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Citations

Jul 18, 2001·American Journal of Preventive Medicine·M A RyanJ Wohlrabe
Sep 24, 2004·ANZ Journal of Surgery·Elizabeth A GrabschJohn D Turnidge
Sep 1, 2009·The Journal of Hospital Infection·A F WidmerD Pittet
Jun 14, 2006·Journal of Advanced Nursing·Hsiu-Fang HsiehFeng-Ping Lee
Feb 3, 2012·ANZ Journal of Surgery·Justin ChouRaminder S Dhillon
Feb 24, 2001·AORN Journal·E L LarsonP Della-Latta
Aug 16, 2001·AORN Journal·S M ChengJ Conly
Dec 3, 2014·Annales de chirurgie plastique et esthétique·M Gorj, M Revol
Jan 23, 2016·The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews·Judith TannerMathew Fortnam
Sep 30, 2021·New Zealand Veterinary Journal·K R Crosse

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