Physicians can reduce the risk of surgical site infections by using a nasal antiseptic before procedures, according to research published March 28 in the American Journal of Infection Control.
Researchers at the Soroka University Medical Center in Israel evaluated medical data from 688 patients who underwent joint arthroplasty or spine surgery between February 2018 and October 2021. Among the patients who received intranasal povidone-iodine and a skin antisepsis using chlorhexidine gluconate before surgery, the eradication rate of Staphylococcus aureus pathogen was 39.6% after 90 days.
The study's title is "Getting the drop on Staphylococcus aureus: Semiquantitative Staphylococcus aureus nasal colony reduction in orthopedic surgery reduces surgical site infection."
Surgical site infections can increase a risk of death by 11 times, and hospital stays are extended by an average of 10 days, leading to $20,000 in additional hospitalization costs per patient, according to the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology.