T
he proposed 2015 changes to AORN and CDC recommen-
dations for pre-operative patient skin antisepsis and surgi-
cal site infection prevention no longer advise patients to
shower or bathe with chlorhexidine gluconate (CHG) or an
antiseptic agent twice prior to surgery — despite clinical
data that supports multiple CHG skin applications as part of a strategy
to reduce SSI risk. These proposed recommendation changes could
cause confusion by leaving pre-operative cleansing recommendations
open to interpretation. We asked Charles Edmiston Jr., PhD, CIC, hospi-
tal epidemiologist for the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee
and director of its Surgical Microbiology Research Laboratory, what
1 0 8
O U T PAT I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E O N L I N E | February 2015
What's the Standard for
Pre-op Showers?
z THE WAY TO WASH Updated skin prepping
recommendations from the CDC and AORN
don't make antiseptic showers mandatory.
an infection prevention researcher responds to
updated skin prepping guidelines.
David bernard | Senior associate editor
