Clinical implementation of a scrubless chlorhexidine/ethanol pre-operative surgical hand rub.

The objective of surgical scrubbing is to reduce the bioburden on the hands of the surgical team in hope that if gloves are punctured or torn, the number of bacteria released at the operation site will be minimal and therefore reduce the risk of site infection. Long procedures with scrubbing and soaping can, however, be counterproductive because with repetition they tend to cause skin abrasions, damages and injuries without further reducing the risk of bacterial release. Within a general review of OR processes, it was decided to substitute to the standard surgical scrub a "new" scrubless pre-op surgical hand rub procedure. This article summarizes the results.