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Preventing surgical site infections: equine surgical site preparation

02 April 2016
Clinical
10 mins read
02 April 2016
Volume 7 · Issue 3

Abstract

By following evidence-based veterinary medicine, protocols can be produced in practice to aid veterinary nurses in performing surgical site preparation to prevent surgical site infections. Care must be taken to adequately prepare equine patients for surgery by following these evidence-based protocols as infectious complications, particularly in racehorses, may be life threatening if they affect long-term performance ability, thus veterinary nurses must ensure gold standard patient care and consequently improving patient welfare.

The veterinary nurse's (VNs) main aim of surgical site preparation is to reduce the number of bacteria and bacterial activity present at the surgical site without damaging the patient's skin (Wilson et al, 2011). It has been documented by McHugh (2012) that horses are a great source of contamination with both endogenous and exogenous microorganisms. Exogenous microorganisms are the biggest source of contamination into the surgical field, thus the VN must aim to reduce this number to a minimum. Equine skin is the most common source of contamination, as the skin can never be fully disinfected, however the bacterial count should be reduced to as low a level as possible. It is the VN's responsibility to ensure that the skin is disinfected and bacterial numbers are minimal by using evidence-based protocols, to reduce the risk of surgical site infections (SSIs) (Adams, 2012).

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SSIs
chlorhexidine gluconate
clipping
antibiotic resistance