Efficacy of Surgical Preparation Solutions in Knee Surgery
Condition: Arthroplasty, Replacement
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      The goal of this study is to determine the superiority of surgical scrub preparations in
      total knee arthroplasty based on the bacterial counts present on the skin surface and in the
      deep joint tissues. These counts will be obtained by culturing the skin prior to any scrub
      preparation, post preparation after the application of the sterile drapes, deep joint tissue
      sample prior to wound closure, and immediately post wound closure. This study will provide an
      assessment of the management of sterility by comparing quantitative and qualitative cultures
      immediately after surgical scrub preparation and the maintenance of sterility throughout the
      procedure. This study will enhance prior research efforts by contributing quantitative
      bacterial load and bacterial load within the surgical wound at closure.
    

Detailed description: 
      Prospective randomized study of commonly used surgical prep solutions comparing superiority
      of Chloraprep to Duraprep

        -  Primary Outcome Measure: Quantitative and qualitative bacterial load pre-surgical
           preparation, post-surgical preparation, and post-wound closure to be obtained by skin
           cultures and one deep joint tissue culture from the joint space prior to wound closure.

        -  Secondary Outcome Measure: Rates of surgical site infection in ChloraPrep and DuraPrep
           groups to be outlined below.

      Patient Population:

      Subjects will be recruited from Dr. Brindley's and Dr. Jenkins clinic which are selected for
      primary total knee arthroplasty.

      Inclusion criteria:

        -  >18 years old and less than 89

        -  Undergoing primary total knee arthroplasty

        -  Not undergoing surgical intervention for infection

      Exclusion criteria:

        -  Injury due to trauma

        -  Open wound at the incision site determined by pre-op history and physical

        -  Abrasion in the vicinity of the planned incision site determined by pre-op history and
           physical

        -  Active infection at or near the surgical incision site determined by pre-op history and
           physical

        -  Active infection somewhere else in the body determined by pre-op labs and history and
           physical

        -  Prior history of surgical infection or bacteremia determined by pre-op history and
           physical

        -  History of rheumatoid arthritis determined by pre-op history and physical

        -  History of autoimmune disorder determined by pre-op history and physical

        -  Immunosuppressed patient determined by pre-op history and physical

        -  Known allergy to iodine, isopropyl alcohol or Chlorhexidine

      Subject recruitment:

      A total of 120 patients will be recruited to participate in the study upon consent for
      surgical intervention based on the calculation to see a statistical difference in culture
      results between duraprep and chloraprep. Please see the statistical analysis section for
      details on the justification of recruiting 120 patients. All patients undergoing total knee
      primary operation will be considered consecutively for the study. Patients will receive no
      undue influence or incentive to participate in this study.

      Study Procedure:

      Patients will be sent to the OR with a randomized folder pre-made by a computer program
      (Stata Version 12 College Station, TX) that will provide randomization after the patient is
      enrolled in the study containing a paper stating the surgical prep solution to be used. On
      the cover of the folder will be a sheet of paper with the following information to be filled
      out and returned to the research coordinator. See Attachment

        -  Patient randomized identification number

        -  Check box for Chloraprep or Duraprep - to be checked after opening sealed folder

        -  Start time of prep

        -  End time of prep

        -  Instructions on how, where and when to take the 8 separate cultures and 1 tissue sample

        -  Check boxes to ensure that cultures were finished and sent to the lab

        -  Incision start time

        -  Surgery end time

      Chloraprep vs. Duraprep

      A. Pre Operative standard of Care:

      Perioperative Antibiotics: All patients to receive Standard preoperative antibiotics per
      institution protocol and the same type of non-microbial drape will be used for all cases
      according to Dr. Brindley's standard protocol for surgery. Patients will receive 1 or 2g of
      cefazolin (based on weight) prior to surgery unless they have an allergy to penicillin, in
      which case they will receive 900mg of clindamycin.

      B. Skin Preparation

        1. Patients enrolled in the study will be randomized at the time of enrollment for surgery
           to be treated with one of two widely used Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved,
           surgical skin preparation solutions: ChloraPrep (2% chlorhexidine gluconate and 70%
           isopropyl alcohol; Enturia, El Paso, Texas) or DuraPrep (0.7% available iodine and 74%
           isopropyl alcohol; 3MHealthcare, St. Paul, Minnesota). The agent used for each patient
           will be determined immediately prior to skin preparation by opening a sealed,
           randomly-assigned envelope that will state the prep to be used. Due to the unique shapes
           and colors of each scrub it is not feasible to cover the label of each prep used for
           randomization. The surgical site will be prepped in the usual sterile fashion using 2
           sticks of either ChloraPrep or DuraPrep. Each operating room will contain enough for 4
           sticks for unforeseen errors (dropping the prep solution during surgical site
           preparation or patients' body habitus, etc.).

        2. Randomization Folders will have a label including:

      i. Patient randomized ID ii. Check box for Duraprep or Chloraprep iii. Starting time of prep
      and end time of prep iv. Time of start of surgery (Each scrub solution has a set time to dry
      on it's label and this will document that each scrub was allowed to dry for the appropriate
      time before the start of surgery. Chloraprep 3 min::::Duraprep 3 min)

      C. Knee sites: 1. Midline anterior patella 2. Midline - popliteal area Please See Attachment
      - Flyer for instruction on culture sites

        1. First Culture from native skin (specimens from sites 1 and 2) - To be taken at time of
           consent at the History and Physical pre-surgery visit by those educated on the study
           which includes residents, research coordinator, or holding room/pre-op nurses/ staff
           prior to any sterile agents being used including alcohol wipes and chlorhexidine baths.

        2. Second culture(specimens from sites 1 and 2)- to be taken in the OR before the surgical
           prep solutions are applied, but after the pre-op surgical scrub is done.

        3. Third Culture (specimens from sites 1 and 2) - To be taken after application of Duraprep
           or Chloraprep after waiting appropriate timing (3 minutes) and before application of the
           sterile drapes Tissue Culture (one specimen) - To be taken as a tissue sample from
           within 1 cm of the lateral side of the patella/patellar implant. Will be excised using a
           scalpel. This tissue sample will be weighed and homogenized to provide quantitative and
           qualitative cultures.

        4. Fourth Culture (specimens from sites 1 and 2) - To be taken after the final closure of
           the wound and before removal of the sterile drapes. Culture must be taken within 1cm of
           the incision.

      Total of 9 cultures per participant

      Method to Obtain Cultures - Primary surgeon, resident surgeons and holding room nurses will
      be educated and utilized to obtain cultures. Each culture will be taken from a 17x17mm square
      area (The length of the culture brush) area on the skin at each site to provide a
      standardized area for quantitative cultures. A neutralizing solution will be used prior to
      taking the culture to stop the killing action of the chlorhexidine and duraprep in order to
      provide accurate results at the time of culture. The neutralizing solution formula is based
      from the study by Savage et al [10] and is outlined below. Cultures will be marked for
      identification based on site and time of culture, then placed in an envelope with the
      patient's randomized ID. The culture folder will then be delivered to Dr. Hamood's
      microbiology lab located on the TTUHSC campus.

      Neutralizing solution quoted from Savage et al [10]

        -  The swab was then placed in a sealed sterile transport container and was immediately
           brought to the microbiology laboratory at our institution. All cultures were monitored
           for seven days.

        -  The ChloraPrep sampling (neutralizing) solution consisted of 0.04% monobasic potassium
           phosphate, 1.01% dibasic sodium phosphate, 0.1% Triton X-100, 1.0% polyoxyethylene
           sorbitan monooleate (Tween 80), 0.3% lecithin, and 1.0% Tamol. The DuraPrep sampling
           (neutralizing) solution consisted of 0.04% monobasic potassium phosphate, 1.01% dibasic
           sodium phosphate, 0.1% Triton X-100, and 0.2% sodium thiosulfate. The pH of each
           solution was adjusted to 7.9 ± 0.1 prior to dispensing into water dilution bottles and
           steam sterilizing for twenty minutes at 121_C. An independent contract laboratory
           (Microbiotest, Sterling, Virginia) formulated and tested the neutralization solutions
           and found that they were both effective and nontoxic.

      D. Culture Analysis Dr. Colmer-Hamood and/or student to be trained by Dr. Colmer-Hamood will
      receive the samples, prepare the specimens for quantitative culture, and plate each specimen
      for quantitation of aerobic and anaerobic growth. Tissue samples will be ground in 1 ml of
      sterile broth to evenly distribute any microorganisms present and allow quantitative culture.
      Cultures will be monitored for 7 days post-inoculation, due to the average time required for
      detection of Propionibacterium acnes first growth being 5.1 days [1]. All colonies will be
      counted and each morphotype will be sub-cultured for identification. Standard Total bacterial
      load in colony forming units (CFU) will be calculated per mm2 of skin swabbed or gm of
      tissue. CFU for individual species will also be calculated. Results will be documented on our
      data collection form and reviewed.

      E. Data Reporting Data will reported from Dr. Colmer-Hamood's lab including quantitative and
      qualitative bacteria connected to the patient's randomized number. This data will be stored
      on a password protected workstation at the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center
      campus in Lubbock, Texas.

      Data will also be taken from the medical record based of on history and physical preoperative
      and postoperative evaluations. Patients will be monitored for 3 months post operatively for
      wound infections. These wound infections will be reported in the study, but the incidence
      between the two surgical prep solutions will not be calculated due to the number of patients
      required to meet statistical power. We will follow the CDC's definitions of surgical site
      infections (SSIs) in reporting data [12].
    

Intervention name(s): Chlora Prep; Dura Prep
Intervention type(s): Other; Other
Intervention description(s): Surgical Scrub skin preparation; Surgical Scrub skin preparation
Other intervention name(s): 2% chlorhexidine gluconate and 70% isopropyl alcohol; 0.7% available iodine and 74% isopropyl alcohol
Intervention MeSH terms: Ethanol; Chlorhexidine; Chlorhexidine gluconate
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)
Primary purpose: Basic Science
Keywords: Efficacy; surgical scrubs; Total Knee Arthroplasty