A comparison of the effects of preoperative whole-body bathing with detergent alone and with detergent containing chlorhexidine gluconate on the frequency of wound infections after clean surgery

Abstract

In a prospective, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study involving 27 surgical units in six European countries, the effect of preoperative whole-body bathing on two occasions with a detergent containing chlorhexidine (CHX +) on the incidence of wound infection in elective, clean surgery was compared with two bathings with a detergent without chlorhexidine (CHX −). In the CHX + group 2·62% of 1413 patients and in the CHX ± group 2·36% of 1400 patients subsequently became infected. The infection rate in the CHX + group was 1·11 times that in the CHX − group with 95% confidence limits ranging between 0·69 and 1·82. Consequently, bathing patients twice preoperatively with chlorhexidine-detergent did not reduce the incidence of infection of clean wounds.