Antiseptic skin preparation revisited.

Preparing the operation site by painting a solution of something onto the skin is one of the best preserved rituals in surgery. There appears to be something really satisfying about this precursor to the main event, and if the solution used is brightly coloured, or stains the skin, then so much the better--you can actually see where you've been! I hope than no-one is under the illusion that because the whole leg (or arm, or abdomen or anywhere else) is now a sickly shade of brown or alarmingly pink, that no pathogenic organisms can possibly have survived the onslaught. In this comprehensive review of the literature and practice audit, Sally Kent revisits the reasons for skin preparation, and recommends the use of well proven research to determine correct practice.