Impact of Preoperative Bathing on Post Caesarean Section Surgical Site Infection
Condition: Cesarean Wound Disruption With Postnatal Complication
MeSH terms: Infections; Surgical Wound Infection
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      Surgical site infection (SSI) is the commonest hospital-acquired infection globally, and
      prevalence is much higher in the low-income countries. Caesarean delivery carries a 5-20 fold
      risk for developing postpartum sepsis. SSIs cause significant morbidity, prolonged
      hospitalization and mortality. Simple and inexpensive interventions like preoperative bathing
      need to be studied, to assess their impact on surgical site infection rates.
    

Detailed description: 
      Caesarean delivery is the single-most important risk factor for postpartum pregnancy
      associated infections carrying a 5 to 20-fold increase in the risk of developing sepsis.
      Research done in MRRH showed a post-surgery wound sepsis prevalence of 82% on all surgical
      wards in the hospital and the prevalence of post caesarean section wound infection at MRRH is
      15.5%. At MRRH, surgical site infections remain a substantial cause of morbidity, prolonged
      hospitalization and mortality. SSI is associated with a mortality rate of 3%, and 75% of SSI
      associated deaths are directly attributable to the SSIs. Universal practices like
      preoperative bathing of patients are currently not being practiced at MRRH and thus their
      impact on reducing the burden can only be speculated upon. The aim of this study was to
      assess the impact of preoperative bathing with chloroxylenol antiseptic on the incidence of
      post caesarean section surgical site infection.
    

Intervention name(s): preoperative bathing with antiseptic
Intervention type(s): Other
Intervention description(s): Preoperative bathing with antiseptic was done as follows; Given warm water and a tablet soap containing chloroxylenol antiseptic.
Asked to bathe under supervision for standardization. Given a clean theatre gown to put on. Taken through the routine pre-operative preparation procedures which involved; Putting an intravenous cannula; administering prophylactic antibiotics. Administering intravenous normal saline 1 liter. taking off a blood sample (3mls) for blood grouping and cross matching. Putting urethral catheter for drainage of urine, Getting an informed consent from the client for the procedure to be done. Informing the theatre team.
Intervention MeSH terms: Anti-Infective Agents, Local
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Intervention model description: The participants in the bathing arm were each given warm water and a tablet of soap containing chloroxylenol antiseptic and they were asked to bathe using it within at most two hours prior to the surgery. After bathing, the participants were given a clean theatre gown to put on, after which they were taken through the routine pre-operative preparation procedures according to the existing ward protocol.
The participants in the control arm were only taken through the routine preoperative preparation procedures according to the existing ward protocol
Masking: Single (Outcomes Assessor)
Primary purpose: Prevention
Keywords: surgical site infection