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I N F E C T I O N
P R E V E N T I O N
the sense of a really good skin prep if they can't see it? What we need
are clear, randomized studies that address the question of which is more
effective.
In choosing between them, the type of surgery may also be a factor.
Some surgeons say when you're looking at surgery in which you're
particularly concerned about skin flora, alcohol-based preps make a
lot of sense. But in other kinds of surgery — procedures in which
infections are rarely a result of what's on the skin — you'll hear some
surgeons argue against using an alcohol-based prep.
Either way, it's also important to remember that with the chlorhexidine prep, you should use a back-and-forth scrubbing action; with the
povidone-iodine based prep, you use a circular motion, starting at the
incision site and moving outward.
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