Single versus Double Skin Preparation for Infection Prevention in Proximal Humeral Fracture Surgery

Preoperative skin preparation plays a major role in preventing postoperative infections. This study aims to compare a single skin preparation (povidone iodine) with a double skin preparation (chlorhexidine gluconate followed by povidone iodine). Forty patients affected by proximal humeral fracture were included in the study. The day of surgery the two skin preparation strategies were performed in the same shoulder, divided into two areas, at the level of the deltopectoral approach. Skin swabs were collected from each area and subjected to microbiological analysis. Both skin preparations significantly reduced the positive culture rate. Coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS) dropped from 92.5% to 40% and to 7.5% after the single and double skin preparation (p<0.001), respectively. The positivity rate was reduced from 50% to 17.5% (p=0.002) and from 27.5% to 0% (p= 0.001) for Propionibacterium acnes and Staphylococcus aureus, respectively, with no difference between the two preparations. The double skin preparation had a more significant effect on bacterial load against CoNS compared to the single skin preparation (p<0.001 versus p= 0.015). In conclusion, both the approaches reduced S. aureus and P. acnes skin load, whereas the double skin preparation is more effective than the single one against CoNS. In light of our findings, preoperative strategies able to reduce bacterial load could potentially increase the final efficacy of perioperative traditional skin preparations.