From the patient ’s perspective , an infection delays healing , can increase time away from work or family , and can cause additional pain and complications ( eg , sepsis , long-term disabilities , death ) .
urgical site infections ( SSIs ) continue to cause significant patient harm despite many advances in Sinfection prevention .
The negative effects of SSIs on morbidity , mortality , and the cost of care has kept SSI reduction a top priority for health care organizations worldwide .
A 2011 systematic review found that approximately 55 % of SSIs in the United States may be preventable by using evidence -based guidelines .
A comparison of chlorhexidine-alcohol versus povidone-iodine for eliminating skin flora before genitourinary prosthetic surgery: a randomized controlled trial.
PURPOSE We defined the relevant skin flora during genitourinary prosthetic surgery , evaluated the safety of chlorhexidine-alcohol for use on the male genitalia and compared chlorhexidine-alcohol to povidone-iodine in decreasing the rate of positive bacterial skin cultures at the surgical skin site before prosthetic device implantation . MATERIAL S AND METHODS In this single institution , prospect i ve , r and omized , controlled study we evaluated 100 consecutive patients undergoing initial genitourinary prosthetic implantation . Patients were r and omized to a st and ard skin preparation with povidone-iodine or chlorhexidine-alcohol .  Skin cultures were obtained from the surgical site before and after skin preparation . RESULTS A total of 100 patients were r and omized , with 50 in each arm . Pre-preparation cultures were positive in 79 % of the patients . Post-preparation cultures were positive in 8 % in the chlorhexidine-alcohol group compared to 32 % in the povidone-iodine group ( p = 0.0091 ) . Coagulase-negative staphylococci were the most commonly isolated organisms in post-preparation cultures in the povidone-iodine group ( 13 of 16 patients ) as opposed to propionibacterium in the chlorhexidine-alcohol group ( 3 of 4 patients ) . Clinical complications requiring additional operations or device removal occurred in 6 patients ( 6 % ) with no significant difference between the 2 groups . No urethral or genital skin complications occurred in either group . CONCLUSIONS Chlorhexidine-alcohol was superior to povidone-iodine in eradicating skin flora at the surgical skin site before genitourinary prosthetic implantation . There does not appear to be any increased risk of urethral or genital skin irritation with the use of chlorhexidine compared to povidone-iodine . Chlorhexidine-alcohol appears to be the optimal agent for skin preparation before genitourinary prosthetic procedures
From the patient ’s perspective , an infection delays healing , can increase time away from work or family , and can cause additional pain and complications ( eg , sepsis , long-term disabilities , death ) .
urgical site infections ( SSIs ) continue to cause significant patient harm despite many advances in Sinfection prevention .
The negative effects of SSIs on morbidity , mortality , and the cost of care has kept SSI reduction a top priority for health care organizations worldwide .
A 2011 systematic review found that approximately 55 % of SSIs in the United States may be preventable by using evidence -based guidelines .