The Efficacy of Chlorhexidine Gluconate Pre - Disinfection Scrubbing in Preventing Surgical Site Infections for Hepatectomy Patients

• the positive rate of the baseline culture , the preoperative culture , and the postoperative culture [ Time Frame: within 30 days after the operation ] [ Designated as safety issue: Yes ]
  1. Before surgical preparation while the patient was on the table in the operating room , we obtained the first set of aerobic culture from the predefined incision site as the baseline culture.
  2. After skin scrubbing and disinfection , we obtained the second set of aerobic culture from the predefined incision site as the preoperative culture.
  3. After closure of the wound , we obtained the third set of aerobic culture from the surgical site as the postoperative culture.
  4. The result of culture was positive if bacteria were cultured from either stage of the surgical site sampling.
  5. We compared the efficacy for eradicating aerobic bacterial pathogens ( reduction of positive culture )from the abdomen between the chlorhexidine gluconate scrubbing group and normal saline scrubbing group .
  
  

• the post - operative surgical site infection [ Time Frame: within 30 days after the operation ] [ Designated as safety issue: Yes ]

  Surgical site infection was using modified US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention definitions for nosocomial infection and documented by visiting patients everyday during the duration of hospitalization after surgery . After discharge , patients were checked weekly in the outpatient clinic to assess the surgical sites infection . All surgical site infections were classified as superficial , deep wound , or organ / space infection .

  We compared the incidence of post - operative surgical site infection between the chlorhexidine gluconate scrubbing group and normal saline scrubbing group .

  
  

Surgical site infections (SSIs) following elective surgical procedures occur most commonly as a result of colonization by the patient's native skin flora . The most common pathogens causing SSIs are Staphylococcus aureus and coagulase-negative Staphylococci , components of normal skin flora . Therefore, preoperative disinfection of the surgical site with an antiseptic skin preparation is standard practice before any surgical intervention to decrease skin microbial counts before incision . It is considered an important step in limiting surgical wound contamination and preventing infection.

A variety of skin-preparation agents and methods are available for preventing surgical site infections and the techniques for preoperative cleansing of the skin vary among hospitals and surgeons. There is a pressing need to elucidate the effect of cutaneous disinfection with chlorhexidine gluconate ( CHG ) in prevention of surgical site infections.

Many studies demonstrated that comparisons with cutaneous disinfection with povidone-iodine, disinfection with CHG before insertion of an intravascular device and for post-infection site care can substantially reduce the incidence of device-related infection .

Hence, this study aimed to test whether an additional chlorhexidine gluconate scrub followed by a routine disinfection would lower the incidence of surgical site culture and subsequent infection after hepatic resection. This data will show the originality and clinical importance of a cutaneous pre-disinfection scrubbing solution for such risk patients with hepatectomy.