Influence of different hand lotions on the efficacy of chlorhexidine surgical hand disinfectant

Objective To evaluate the influence of different hand lotions on the efficacy of chlorhexidine surgical hand disinfectant. Methods Sixty health care workers were randomly divided into group A,B,and C.All subjects washed their hands for 1 minute according to six-step hand washing technique,and hands were dried with sterile paper towels.Group A didn't use hand lotion,group B and C used 3M 9260 hand lotion(water-in-oil emulsion) and certain brand vaseline hand lotion(oil-in-water emulsion) respectively.Bacterial cultures of hands in three groups were performed after washing hands,using hand lotions 30 minutes later and disinfecting with surgical hand disinfectant,bacterial colonies were counted. Results After washing hands,the difference in colony count was not significantly different among three groups(P0.05).Thirty minutes after using hand lotions,colony count in group A,B,and C was(3.33±0.64) CFU/cm2,(3.32±0.97) CFU/cm2,and(4.05±1.78) CFU/cm2 respectively,colony count in group C was significantly higher than group A and B(P0.05);there was no significant difference between group A and B(P0.05).After surgical hand disinfection,both group A and B met requirements for surgical hand disinfection,the difference was not significantly different(P0.05);two subjects in group C didn't meet requirements for surgical hand disinfection,and the colony count([1.28 ± 1.45]CFU/cm2) was significantly higher than group A([0.07 ± 0.10]CFU/cm2) and B([0.06 ± 0.12]CFU/cm2)(P0.05). Conclusion Hand lotion containing latex and chlorhexidine can protect hand skin and doesn't reduce efficacy of surgical hand disinfection.