Are preoperative chlorhexidine gluconate showers associated with a reduction in surgical site infection following craniotomy? A retrospective cohort analysis of 3126 surgical procedures.

OBJECTIVE: Surgical site infection (SSI) is a complication linked to increased costs and length of hospital stay. Prevention of SSI is important to reduce its burden on individual patients and the healthcare system. The authors aimed to assess the efficacy of preoperative chlorhexidine gluconate (CHG) showers on SSI rates following cranial surgery. METHODS: In November 2013, a preoperative CHG shower protocol was implemented at the authors' institution. A total of 3126 surgical procedures were analyzed, encompassing a time frame from April 2012 to April 2016. Cohorts before and after implementation of the CHG shower protocol were evaluated for differences in SSI rates. RESULTS: The overall SSI rate was 0.6%. No significant differences (p = 0.11) were observed between the rate of SSI of the 892 patients in the preimplementation cohort (0.2%) and that of the 2234 patients in the postimplementation cohort (0.8%). Following multivariable analysis, implementation of preoperative CHG showers was not associated with decreased SSI (adjusted OR 2.96, 95% CI 0.67-13.1; p = 0.15). CONCLUSIONS: This is the largest study, according to sample size, to examine the association between CHG showers and SSI following craniotomy. CHG showers did not significantly alter the risk of SSI after a cranial procedure.

Chlorhexidine Showers are Associated With a Reduction in Surgical Site Infection Following Spine Surgery: An Analysis of 4266 Consecutive Surgeries.

BACKGROUND: Surgical site infection (SSI) is a common complication following spinal surgery. Prevention is critical to maintaining safe patient care and reducing additional costs associated with treatment. OBJECTIVE: To determine the efficacy of preoperative chlorhexidine (CHG) showers on SSI rates following fusion and nonfusion spine surgery. METHODS: A mandatory preoperative CHG shower protocol was implemented at our institution in November 2013. A cohort comparison of 4266 consecutive patients assessed differences in SSI rates for the pre- and postimplementation periods. Subgroup analysis was performed on the type of spinal surgery (eg, fusion vs nonfusion). Data represent all spine surgeries performed between April 2012 and April 2016. RESULTS: The overall mean SSI rate was 0.4%. There was no significant difference between the pre- (0.7%) and postimplementation periods (0.2%; P = .08). Subgroup analysis stratified by procedure type showed that the SSI rate for the nonfusion patients was significantly lower in the post- (0.1%) than the preimplementation group (0.7%; P = .02). There was no significant difference between SSI rates for the pre- (0.8%) and postimplementation groups (0.3%) for the fusion cohort (P = .21). In multivariate analysis, the implementation of preoperative CHG showers were associated with significantly decreased odds of SSI (odds ratio = 0.15, 95% confidence interval [0.03-0.55], P < .01). CONCLUSION: This is the largest study investigating the efficacy of preoperative CHG showers on SSI following spinal surgery. In adjusted multivariate analysis, CHG showering was associated with a significant decrease in SSI following spinal surgery.

Ventilator-associated pneumonia in a neurologic intensive care unit does not lead to increased mortality.

BACKGROUND: Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is the most common nosocomial infection among medical intensive care unit (ICU) patients and is associated with increased mortality and length of stay (LOS). Neurologic disease is a risk factor for VAP development, but the relationship between VAP and outcomes in patients admitted to the ICU for neurologic reasons remains largely unknown. METHODS: All mechanically ventilated patients over a 2-year period with neurovascular disease were included in a retrospective study. Data collected included patient demographics, dates of admission and discharge, LOS, and ventilator hours. Comparisons between neurologic patients who did and did not develop VAP were made using univariate and multivariate analysis. RESULTS: Of 585 intubated neurovascular patients, 24 (4.1%) developed VAP. Compared with those who did not develop VAP, those with VAP were younger (51.8 +/- 13.9 years vs. 58.8 +/- 15.9 years, P = 0.03), had increased LOS (32.6 +/- 29.2 days vs. 14.5 +/- 7.8 days, P < 0.001), and more ventilator hours (272 +/- 257 h vs. 85.9 +/- 140 h, P < 0.001). There was no difference in mortality between patients with and without VAP (25.0% vs. 28.3%, P = 0.72). VAP was not an independent predictor of mortality in a multivariate model (OR 1.11, 95% CI 0.37-3.30, P = 0.855). CONCLUSIONS: VAP in neurocritical care patients is associated with increased LOS and ventilator hours, but is not associated with increased mortality, contrary to prior studies in medical ICU patients.