Preoperative skin preparation

The authors of the systematic review concluded that there was no clear evidence of benefit with showering or bathing preoperatively with chlorhexidine compared to other wash products in reducing the rate of SSIs. [...] In 2008, the National Collaborating Centre for Women’s and Children’s Health conducted a systematic literature review as part of the process for developing guidelines for the prevention and treatment of SSIs.2 The guideline was commissioned by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE). [...] Two research questions from the NICE systematic review were relevant to this rapid review: “What is the clinical effectiveness of preoperative showering to reduce surgical site infection?”2 and “Is the use of preoperative skin antiseptics clinically effective in the prevention of surgical site infection?”2 The NICE literature review identified an earlier version of the systematic review by Webster [...] The available evidence was considered insufficient to make any conclusions about the comparative efficacy of the three antiseptics for the prevention of SSI. [...] A 2007 systematic review compared the clinical effectiveness of chlorhexidine and povidone- iodine as skin antiseptics in patients undergoing surgery, in patients undergoing insertion of vascular or epidural catheters, and for the prevention of contamination of blood cultures.7 Limited details of the systematic review methodology were provided, but evidence was identified from systematic literatur