Comparison of an alcohol-based hand sanitation product with a traditional chlorhexidine hand scrub technique for hand hygiene preparation in an equine hospital

Abstract

The alcohol-based gel protocol is an effective hand asepsis technique for grossly clean contaminated hands and those following faecal contamination, with comparable efficacy to chlorhexidine based scrub.

Comparative antimicrobial efficacy of 4 surgical hand‐preparation procedures prior to application of an alcohol‐based hand rub in veterinary students

“…[6][7][8] When the bacterial count in a surgical wound is ≥10 5 colony forming units (CFUs) per gram of tissue, the risk of SSIs increases significantly. 2 The incidence of SSI as a complication of small animal surgery has been reported to be as high as 18.1% depending on the type of surgery performed. 5 Surgical site infections cannot be completely eliminated but preventative strategies can be implemented to reduce their incidence and impact.…”

“…13 Alcohol-based hand rubs have been shown to be as effective as, or even more effective than, the currently available surgical hand scrubs. 11,[14][15][16][17][18][19][20] Alcohol-based hand rubs were reportedly better tolerated (fewer reported incidences of dermatitis) than conventional surgical scrubs with medicated soap, required reduced application time, and led to better compliance and tolerance among surgical staff in human hospitals. 8,15,20 Alcohols also exhibit rapid broad-spectrum activity against vegetative bacteria, viruses, and fungi; yet alcohol does not have residual activity.…”

“…13,17 The use of ABHRs in the veterinary field has also grown as indicated by the number of recent publications. 3,6,18 Most of the research on presurgical hand asepsis have been performed in human medicine and has generated relatively little interest in the veterinary field. 8 Accordingly, there are comparatively fewer studies assessing presurgical hand asepsis in the veterinary field and recommendations for veterinarians are largely extrapolated from the research performed in human medicine.…”

“…8 Accordingly, there are comparatively fewer studies assessing presurgical hand asepsis in the veterinary field and recommendations for veterinarians are largely extrapolated from the research performed in human medicine. 3,7,16,18 One of the recommendations for using ABHRs for surgical hand preparation is that an approved hand rub should be applied to dry hands free of debris and gross organic material. 9 There are concerns, however, that this method of surgical hand preparation may not be sufficient to reduce bacterial contamination levels to acceptable low levels for the small animal surgeon.…”

“…Alcohol‐based hand rubs are widely used in human hospitals across the globe, and their popularity is rising among human surgeons because of the aforementioned associated benefits 13,17 . The use of ABHRs in the veterinary field has also grown as indicated by the number of recent publications 3,6,18 …”