Preoperative chlorhexidine reduces the incidence of surgical site infections in total knee and hip arthroplasty: A systematic review and meta-analysis

  • Yuanzhen Cai
  • , Ke Xu
  • , Weikun Hou
  • , Zhi Yang
  • , Peng Xu

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

33 Scopus citations

Abstract

Objective This meta-analysis aims to assess the incidences of surgical site infection of patients who applied preadmission chlorhexidine skin preparation, versus those who applied the traditional skin preparation before undergoing total knee and hip arthroplasty. Methods A systematic search is carried out through Medline (1966–2016.11), PubMed (1966–2016.11), Embase (1980–2016.11), ScienceDirect (1985–2016.11) and the Cochrane Library. Only high quality studies are identified. Meta-analysis is conducted with the use of Stata 11.0 software. Results One RCT and five retrospective studies, published between 2010 and 2016, are included in the present meta-analysis. The present meta-analysis indicates that there are significant differences in surgical site infection rate (RD = −0.02, 95% CI: −0.02 to −0.01, P < 0.00001), revision surgery rate (RD = −0.01, 95% CI: −0.01 to −0.01, P < 0.00001) and length of stay (MD = −0.29, 95% CI: −0.48 to −0.11, P = 0.002) between groups. Conclusion Preoperative chlorhexidine skin preparation appears to reduce the risk of infection, the incidence of revision surgery, and the length of stay for patients undergoing total knee and hip arthroplasty. No adverse effects, such as DVT or PE, appear to be related to chlorhexidine preparation. Due to the limited quality of the evidence currently available, high quality RCTs with better study designs, larger sample sizes and longer follow-ups are needed.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)221-228
Number of pages8
JournalInternational journal of surgery (London, England)
Volume39
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Mar 2017

Keywords

  • Chlorhexidine
  • Meta-analysis
  • Surgical site infection
  • Total hip arthroplasty
  • Total knee arthroplasty

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