Effectiveness of three surgical alcohol-based hand rubs on skin flora

BACKGROUND: It is proved that surgical hand disinfectant contains alcohol, and has favorable properties such as strong and rapid antibacterial effect, ease of application, and suitable effect on skin. Therefore, nowadays use of them has been gradually replacing traditional surgical hand scrub with antibacterial soap. Hence, several domestic and imported products are available to the healthcare facilities in Iran. This study was done in order to determine the antibacterial effect of Decosept, Sterillium, and Septicidine on skin flora. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This clinical trial was carried out on 20 volunteers. Subjects disinfected their hands with three test products. At first, subjects washed their hands with soap. Then pre-value sample was taken from the finger tips in Tryptic Soy Broth (TSB). After that, the hands were disinfected with one of the surgical hand rubs with as much volume as necessary to keep the hands wet, at the recommended application time. Immediate post-value sample was taken from one hand and the other hand was gloved for 3 h. After removing the surgical glove, 3 h post-value sample (sustained effect) was taken from the hand. RESULTS: All products remarkably decreased the colony forming units (CFU) immediately (P < 0.0001) and 3 h (P < 0.0001) after disinfection. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed significant differences among immediate post-values (P < 0.005). Septicidine was significantly the least effective than the others, whereas 3 h effect of the three products was similar (P = 0.630, ANOVA). CONCLUSIONS: Our results confirm the effectiveness of the three alcohol-based hand rubs. Considering the short application time, less volume used, and more antibacterial effect, however, Sterillium seems to be a better choice.