Surgical hand hygiene: scrub or rub?

Summary Surgical hand hygiene is standard care prior to any surgical procedure. Per-operative glove punctures are observed in almost 30% of all interventions, and a risk factor for postoperative infections. In the past, washing hands with antimicrobial soap and water (surgical scrub) was the norm, m...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Journal of hospital infection 2013-02, Vol.83, p.S35-S39
Main Author: Widmer, A.F
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Antibiotics. Antiinfectious agents. Antiparasitic agents
Antiseptics
Biological and medical sciences
Chlorhexidine
Disinfectants - administration & dosage
Disinfection
Epidemiology. Vaccinations
Europe
General aspects
Hand antisepsis
Hand hygiene
Hand Hygiene - methods
Humans
Infectious Disease
Infectious diseases
Medical sciences
Pharmacology. Drug treatments
Preoperative Care - methods
Surgical hand antisepsis
Surgical preparation
Surgical Wound Infection - prevention & control
Time Factors
United States
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Summary:Summary Surgical hand hygiene is standard care prior to any surgical procedure. Per-operative glove punctures are observed in almost 30% of all interventions, and a risk factor for postoperative infections. In the past, washing hands with antimicrobial soap and water (surgical scrub) was the norm, mainly with chlorhexidine or iodine. More recently, alcohol-based hand rub has been successfully introduced, showing greater effectiveness, less irritation to the hands, and requiring less time than washing hands. All products should have a remnant effect that delays microbial growth under the gloved hand. Some of the alcohol-based compounds are effective (as determined by the European Norm EN 12791) within 90 s whereas others require 3–5 min, similar to the scrub. The short procedure relies heavily on proper technique and timing, since lowering the exposure time to
ISSN:0195-6701
1532-2939
DOI:10.1016/S0195-6701(13)60008-0