A new presentation published in a recent supplement to Antimicrobial Resistance and Infection Control suggests preoperative decontamination of surgical sites can greatly reduce surgical site infections.
Researchers used a combination of intranasal antimicrobial photodisinfection therapy and chlohexidine body wipes both the night before and the day of operation on patients undergoing elective cardiac, orthopedic, spine, vascular, thoracic and neuro- surgery.
After a three month monitoring period, the research team noted that the disinfection protocol decreased SSIs by more than 1 percent and reduced the risk of a Staphylococcus aureus infection by nearly 30 percent.
The researchers estimated that decrease in SSIs saved $1.15 million dollars in treatment costs over three months.
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