I don't read that first review as saying that washing with antibacterial soap is no better than not washing; I read it as saying that washing with antibacterial soap is no better than washing with regular soap. So it still seems like a good idea to wash, just not to go out of your way to get some special stuff to wash with.
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I'm not sure that taking a shower prior to having a surgical procedure will solve the infection problem. What about anti-bacterial hand soap-isn't it true that our bodies build up immunity to that sort of thing?
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Recently we have been told on our OB unit that we have to wipe ALL of our labor patients q6h with those damn Sage wipes, I suppose because of that Sage study you cited. This is *just in case* they end up going for an unplanned cesarean. This is even though we are going to put non-sterile monitor belts and transducers right back on their bellies after we do it. This is whether they have a sweaty panus hanging over their prospective incision site, whether they are diabetic, blah blah blah... you can gather how we feel about it.
As a Nurse for 23 years, I agree about having patients bathe or shower in a anitmicrobial soap. When I was young and had surgery I had to shower in betadine soap. That was just for hand surgery.
What has me shook up is the fact that some doctors don't use staples after hip or knee surgery.
I had 2 obese patients last week that had hip surgery. Both went to the same hosptial and neither had staples or super glue, just Steri-Strips. OMG! I said no way!
Then, I find out that the nurses are not being trained to use aseptic techniques when doing post opt dressing changes. I don't think so! Please, can you tell me why!(Don't answer).
As an Infection Preventionist I totally support the use of Chlorhexidine pre-op showers the nite before and morning of surgery. We also use the Sage Cloth in the preop holding and a final sterile skin prep of Chlorascrb. All in effort to kill all micro-organisms on the skin prior to surgery. A effort that cannot be accomplished using regular soap. The above is supported by research and should be implemented for all surgical patients. It is devastating for a patient to develop a post-op wound infection, especially with a resistant organism like MRSA. And there is so much more community acquired MRSA out there. As for pregnant women being wiped down with chlorhexidine, this is a good idea. It stays on the skin for hours, so the monitors should not make a affect it's germ killing action.
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