Effectiveness of N-butyl cyanoacrylate-based microbial skin sealant on the prevention of surgical site infections.

BACKGROUND

Surgical site infections (SSIs) are a serious concern in health care, and wound contamination by endogenous skin flora is a major factor in the development of SSIs. Despite preventive tactics in pre-operative skin care, antibiotic prophylaxis, surgical technique, and post-operative incision care, complete sterilization of the skin is not possible. Recently developed microbial skin sealant forms a continuous but breathable barrier that prevents migration of endogenous skin flora into the incision. The skin sealant closes dermal microabrasions, preventing re-colonization of potential pathogens at the incision. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of an N-butyl cyanoacrylate-based microbial skin sealant in reducing the occurrence of SSIs in an experimental rodent model.

METHODS

This was a randomized, controlled animal trial. Forty-eight Wistar albino rats were divided into six groups of eight rats each. Three groups received application of sealant against specific bacteria, and three matched control groups received only the bacteria without the sealant. Group one underwent pre-operative hair removal, followed by application of skin sealant, then abdominal incision and closure. Group two (control) simply underwent hair removal, followed by incision and closure, with no skin sealant applied. Group three received an application of cage swabs (containing a mixture of urine, stool and sawdust from the animals' cages) before application of skin sealant, and group four (control) received cage swabs without subsequent skin sealant. Group five received methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) followed by skin sealant, and group six (control) received MRSA without skin sealant. Seven days after surgery, the animals were sacrificed. Samples were taken from the abdomen of each rat and placed in culture medium. Proliferation of the following bacteria were observed: Coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS), gram-positive bacilli (GPB), Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and MRSA.

RESULTS

There was a statistically significant difference between the median number of GPB in the group that received cage swabs+sealant and the group that received cage swabs without sealant (median, GPB count 29,430 colony-forming units [CFU]/g vs 359,100  colony-forming units [CFU]/g; p<0.05). The study results showed that microbial skin sealant was not as effective in preventing CoNS or MRSA contamination as it was in preventing GPB contamination.

CONCLUSIONS

Use of a microbial skin sealant before surgery can lower the rate of SSIs by reducing the migration of some specific bacterial agents. Additional data are needed to validate its use in clinical practice.