The surgical hand scrub in small animal veterinary practice

The surgical hand scrub is important in minimising surgical wound contamination and reducing the risk of post-surgical wound infection. Recent trials suggest that the traditional surgical scrub adopted by veterinary surgeons is unnecessarily vigorous and time consuming. Reductions in microbial numbers of equal significance can be achieved without brushing and with duration reduced to two minutes. Scrub agents with alcohol bases have significantly superior activity profiles when compared to aqueous solutions such as chlorhexidine and are less damaging to the skin. Various scrub agents and techniques are compared for their ease and efficacy.