Studies of the surgical scrub.

BACKGROUND

To evaluate the effectiveness of various scrub techniques in reducing bacterial skin flora, the present study was developed in three stages.

METHODS

Each stage involved fingertip bacterial colony counts measured before, immediately after and 30 min after a variety of handwashing techniques using 10% povidone iodine solution. The first compared 1, 2 or 3 non-timed washes from fingertips to elbows in 10 volunteers. The second compared two volunteers scrubbing for equal durations with or without friction rubbing, while the third involved 15 volunteers who each scrubbed for different time intervals.

RESULTS

The first stage showed that a single wash episode failed to provide lasting bacterial colony count reductions on fingertip cultures. The second showed that enduring colony count reductions occur whether friction rubbing of the hands was used or not, and the third showed that a 30 s wash was as effective as washing for longer periods in reducing fingertip flora.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings suggest that prolonged vigorous pre-operative scrubbing is unnecessary, although more than a cursory wash is required to produce lasting fingertip antisepsis.