Preoperative Skin Preparation of the Foot and Ankle

Abstract

The use of isopropyl alcohol and the use of a bristled brush both have beneficial effects on the skin-preparation process before foot and ankle surgery. In the current investigation, the most effective technique was the use of isopropyl alcohol in conjunction with scrubbing with a bristled brush. Merely washing the foot with alcohol-soaked sponges provided limited benefit to the web spaces only.

Efficacy of intraoperative surgical irrigation with polihexanide and nitrofurazone in reducing bacterial load after nail removal surgery

“…7-12,24-26 A potential limitation of previous studies was the use of qualitative rather than quantitative culture data. 12,24 Our findings show a positive culture rate of 100% in patients from all 3 groups, which decreases to 58.3%, 59.0%, and 56.0% for the saline, nitrofurazone, and polihexanide groups, respectively, after application of the same preoperative foot preparation in each group. Surprisingly, all 3 groups returned to a 100% positive culture rate after the surgical phase, effectively alleviating any efficiency of the preoperative foot preparation.…”

“…Cotton-tipped swabs were used for bacterial culture sampling from the skin as described in previous reports for similar sample collections from the foot and ankle. 8,9,12 Swabs were prepared for analysis in a blinded manner by resuspension in 2 mL of 0.9% sodium chloride followed by 10-fold dilution. At least 3 dilutions of each sample were spread onto 5% sheep blood, MacConkey, and Sabouraud dextrose agar (20 L in each plate).…”

Analgesia pós-operatória plexular contínua: estudo dos efeitos colaterais e do risco de infecção dos cateteres

“…The use of 0.5% alcoholic chlorhexedine for antisepsis of the skin before the block and catheter placement is one of the factors that could have contributed for a better result. Chlorhexedine seems to be superior to the iodine and alcohol solution used in other studies [29][30][31] . It is also surprising that other authors took precaution measures that were not used in the present study, such as the use of sterile gown when inserting the catheter, and antisepsis of the skin at the time of catheter removal 16,28 .…”

“…Um dos fatores que pode ter contribuído para o melhor resultado seria o uso da solução alcoólica de clorexedina a 0,5% para degermação da pele antes da realização do bloqueio e posicionamento do cateter. A solução de clorexedina parece ser superior à solução de iodo e álcool usada nos outros estudos [29][30][31] . Surpreende ainda o fato que os outros autores tomaram precauções que não foram usadas no método do presente estudo, tais como uso de avental estéril no momento da colocação do cateter e assepsia da pele no momento da retirada do cateter 16,28 .…”

Randomised comparison of two skin preparation methods in foot and ankle surgery

“…All play a role in the infection rates as reported by previous studies [1,4,6,7]. Many studies have evaluated the impact of skin preparation solutions and techniques [7][8][9] on the flora of the foot, and several of these have demonstrated the difficulty of completely eliminating bacteria, particularly from the forefoot [8][9][10].…”