Pre-Surgical Hand Antisepsis: Concepts and Current Habits of Veterinary Surgeons

in Veterinary Surgery : The Official Journal of the American College of Veterinary Surgeons (2011), 40(5), 515-521

Objective: To assess current habits for surgical hand preparation amongst veterinary surgical specialists and to compare data with current guidelines for hand asepsis techniques. Study design: Survey of ... [more ▼]

Objective: To assess current habits for surgical hand preparation amongst veterinary surgical specialists and to compare data with current guidelines for hand asepsis techniques. Study design: Survey of veterinary surgical specialists Sample Population: Diplomates of the American (ACVS) and European Colleges of Veterinary Surgeons (ECVS). Methods: An internet based survey of hand preparation methods before surgical procedures was conducted of 1300 listed ACVS and ECVS Diplomates. Results: A 42.6% response rate was obtained. Approximately 80% of respondents use disinfecting soaps as a primary method for hand antisepsis. Of those, 81% use chlorhexidine based scrubs and 7% use a neutral soap followed by a hydroalcoholic solution. Conclusions: Contrary to current recommendations of the World Health Organization and scientific evidence supporting use of hydro-alcoholic rubs for presurgical hand preparation, veterinary surgical specialists still use surgical scrub solutions containing disinfecting soaps. [less ▲]