Abstract
There is no experimental evidence that skin bacteria are introduced into the deeper tissues by injection and thereby cause infection. The currently used antiseptics cannot act in the time allowed in practice (usually about five seconds), and possibly cannot cause complete sterility at all. Mechanical swabbing is no better in its effects. In six years, during which over 5000 injections were given in unselected patients by all routes from intradermal to intravenous without using any form of skin preparation, no single case of infection, either local or systemic, ensued. Routine skin preparation may have unpleasant side-effects. Only injections where strict asepsis is required—e.g., intrathecal and intra-articular —need skin preparation, which must then be effectively applied. Routine skin preparation before injection is quite unnecessary.
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