3 2 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • M A Y 2 0 2 0
I
magine working in a
facility where 50
orthopedic surgeons
have their own
unique skin prepping
protocols. Factor in 20 nurs-
es who are trying to support
the variations in prepping
each of these surgeons
brings to the OR and that's
asking for problems, says
Khaled J. Saleh, MD, MPH,
MHCM, FRCS(C), CPD, the
CEO of Saleh Medical
Innovations Consulting and
Sphere Orthopaedics &
Regenerative Health.
"The risk of error increases
significantly when there's a
great amount of variation in technique," says Dr. Saleh, who also serves
as executive director of EPIC Health System Advanced Multispecialty
League, is a clinical professor of surgery at Michigan State University
and an attending surgeon and section chief at the Surgical Outcomes
Research Institute VAMC. "Error is the threat to successful surgery. You
have to have a standardized system in place to minimize variation."
A standardized system is an imperative with a process like skin
Standardize Your Skin Prepping Practices
Reducing variation and rooting out
technique flaws are the keys to preventing SSIs.
• PRE-OP PRACTICE Prior to prepping, it's essential to do a proper
assessment of the patient's anatomy with a focus on the extremities.
Jesse
Hixson,
MSN,
RN,
CNOR
Jared Bilski | Managing Editor
