187 Improving adherence to anaesthetic room preoperative shaving: A surgical site infection quality improvement project

Abstract

Abstract Introduction The correlation between hair removal and surgical site infection (SSI) remains debated but the limited guidance suggests when hair removal is necessary it should take place in the anaesthetic room. Our local policy is for preoperative hair removal to be performed in the anaesthetic room. We completed a quality improvement project after auditing our practice. Methods Location of preoperative shaving in emergency and trauma theatres were recorded for 7 days. Results were presented to surgical leadership teams and SSI steering groups, and information was disseminated to surgical and anaesthetic teams. Posters specifying the appropriate location of hair removal were created. Results were re-audited after six weeks. Results Pre-intervention, 15 cases required preoperative hair removal. This included 9 general surgery cases, 2 urology, 1 gynaecology and 4 trauma and orthopaedics. Overall, 6/15 (40%) cases were shaved in the anaesthetic room. The rates of hair shaving in the anaesthetic room were 2/9 (22%) general surgery, 1/2 (50%) urology, 1/1 (100%) gynaecology, and 2/4 (50%) trauma. Post-intervention, 9/12 (75%) cases were shaved in the anaesthetic room. This included 7/9 (78%) general surgery, 1/2 (50%) urology, 0/0 gynaecology and 1/1 (100%) trauma and orthopaedics. Conclusion The rate of appropriate preoperative hair shaving in the anaesthetic room increased as a result of initial audit and intervention. Notable change was observed in general surgery in emergency theatres. Future studies should record the rate of surgical site infection, to determine the overall effect this can have on patients and should extend the assessment to elective theatre.