Preparing the skin before surgery will prevent infection at the surgical site. Surgical site infection ( SSI ) complicates an estimated 5% of all clean - contaminated operations performed annually. It is therefore necessary to use antiseptic solutions for skin preparation necessary for clean minor surgical procedures. For more information consult https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov --articles ; https://thrive.kaiserpermanente.org --ssites

Dear Professor,

Thanks for your kind response. I appreciate your expertise in the field of microbiology, but there is no clinical evidence to support those who answer this question with "Yes".

There was an elegant article came out on the British Journal of Surgery last year (2017), critically reviewed the subject and concluded

" There is a general lack of evidence on the preventive effectiveness of perioperative measures ( showering, surgical scrubbing and cleansing of the operation area with antiseptics) to reduce the incidence of SSI. Most measures are based on common practice and perceived effectiveness".

I would advise you to read it

Article Alternatives to antibiotics for prevention of surgical infection

Since it is commonly used in clinical practice, skin disinfection is thought to reduce ssi. However, lack of evidence does no mean that we will stop using. I think people will continue to do so until a strong evidence will accumulate supporting the indifference hypothesis.

Thanks Prof. Elmanama for the kind reply. I think providing evidence to support this practice is not an easy job. I tried once with one of my colleagues to conduct an RCT in 2015 in Southwest Ireland comparing preop showering only and the use of chlorhexidine on the surgical field. Although the protocol passed the ethical committee, the head departments of the three centres involved in the trial were very reluctant to carry on with it for fear of litigation. Eventually the trial never went thru!

@Hytham ..I would also think 1000 times before agreeing to such rct. Best wishes