Does Skin Preparation Influence Surgical Site Infection in Laparotomy Wounds: Comparative Evaluation of Preoperative Skin Preparation With 4% Chlorhexidine With 5% Povidone Iodine in Laparotomy Wounds: A Prospective Trial

Introduction: Surgical site infection is a dangerous condition causing a heavy burden on the patient and social health system. Surgical site infections are among the most common hospital acquired infections comprising 14 to 16% of inpatient infections. There are various factors predisposing the infections and many of them are patient related or disease related. The use of pre-operative skin preparation by effective antiseptic plays an important role in reducing postoperative wound infections. There are several kinds of antiseptics available for preoperative skin preparation; however povidone iodine and spirit are commonly used in clinical practice. Materials and Methods: This study compared the incidence of surgical site infections within 7 days of postoperative period in laparotomy wounds prepared using 4% Chlorhexidine and those prepared with 5% Povidone iodine for pre-laparotomy skin preparation. Results: This study compared 128, 4% Chlorhexidine prepared patients and 109, 5% Povidone iodine prepared patients undergoing various elective n = 114 and emergency procedures n = 123. The overall SSI rates in 7 days in the whole group were 13.44 %. The SSI rates on the 4% Chlorhexidine group were 10.16% and 5% povidone iodine group were 17.27% and it was statically significant with a p value of p = 0.00413 showing significant reduction in the 4% Chlorhexidine group. The study also compared the SSI rates in elective and emergency procedures in both groups with significant difference in emergency procedures. More variables are also compared between the groups and results were analyzed. Conclusion: This study shows the use of Chlorhexidine 4% reduces the morbidity of one of the most common wound related complication in laparotomy patients in all categories of laparotomy wounds.