Evaluation of and Improvements for Procedures for Preoperative Body Wash to Prevent Surgical Site Infections

Abstract: This report examines preoperative body wash performed by the patients themselves at home and itspotential to prevent surgical site infections. This was accomplished by studying current recommendedprotocols and active substances in Sweden in relation to a potential replacement product. Products identified and included in the report are Descutan, manufactured by Fresenius Kabi AB and Prontoderm by B. Braun Medical AB, with the active substances of chlorhexidine and polyhexanide.After comparisons, an experiment and evaluations, a new proposed protocol has been developed.The proposed protocol involves decolonization of bacteria, including multidrug resistant organisms.In that way, an alternative to handle the increased antibiotic resistance in the world is described. Inaddition, costs of the products have been compared and by avoiding surgical site infections, potentialsavings have been calculated.From the review, ambiguous results were obtained regarding the effect of preoperative body wash onsurgical site infections.In summary, there are many benefits and a lot of money to save, with the new active substance andby avoiding surgical site infections. The conclusion is that Prontoderm is more expensive, but thatthe total cost of the product kit could be reduced by adjusting the size of the products after protocoland dosage. Further, it was decided that three washes are sufficient for a full preoperative body wash.Keywords: surgical site infection, chlorhexidine, polyhexanide, decolonization, preoperative bodywash, Prontoderm, Descutan, patient protocol, multidrug resistant organisms.