Adding a preoperative chlorhexidine cloth preparation protocol for total knee arthroplasty can save up to $3.18 billion annually, according to a study in The Journal of Arthroplasty.
Researchers studied reports from the National Healthcare Safety Network and previously published reports to establish a range of surgical site infection rates after knee surgery and the cost per revision procedure. Using chlorhexidine at the authors' institution generated a net savings of approximately $2.1 million per 1,000 total knee arthroplasty patients, with annual healthcare savings ranging from $0.78 billion to $3.18 billion.
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The cost savings was primarily due to decreased SSI rates, according to the study.
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