The age-old practice of applying antiseptic to skin prior to surgery on closed fractures could soon shift after a study, published Feb. 1, in the New England Journal of Medicine, found that iodine in alcohol solutions prevents surgical site infections.
Tested at 25 different hospital sites across the U.S. and Canada, every two months surgeons alternated the use of iodine alcohol antiseptic solutions with use of chlorhexidine in alcohol.
For patients who had closed fractures, infection at the surgical site only occurred in 2.3% of patients after the use of an iodine alcohol solution prior to beginning the procedure.
Infection in patients with closed fractures where chlorhexidine in alcohol occurred in 3.3% of them.
While the results did not differ much by antiseptic solution type when tested on patients undergoing open fracture surgery, the results highlight that there is a benefit to change clinical practices for closed fracture surgeries and use skin antisepsis with iodine povacrylex in alcohol, which resulted in fewer surgical-site infections.