Extra Washing Cuts Surgical Site Infections

A simple program is cutting surgical site infections by a dramatic percentage, according to orthopaedic traumatologist and joint reconstruction doctor Brian Tonne, M.D., at the University of Tennessee Medical Center. Before undergoing a hip or knee replacement patients take an infection-prevention class called “project joints.”

Patients’ noses are swabbed to check for the presence of staph bacteria and three days before their surgery doctors instruct prospective patients to wash with a special anti-bacterial, anti-septic soap. They tell them to spend three minutes scrubbing their affected limb. As an added precaution, doctors use clippers at the surgical site instead of razors.

The University of Tennessee Medical Center’s infection rate for knee and hip replacements was almost 2% before project joints. Now, “it has dropped to approximately 0.5%, ” Tonne said.

The “project joints” procedure is currently in use in hospitals in eight states and is expanding to facilities in five more, according to Tonne.

He indicated that the program is only being used for patients getting hip and knee replacements, but he believes it should be used in conjunction with other joint replacements and orthopedic procedures. He notes that every year 300, 000 Americans get surgical site infections—the most common healthcare associated infection in the U.S.