Prevention of post-operative infection in spine surgery by wound irrigation with a solution of povidone-iodine and hydrogen peroxide.

摘要

Starting from January 2008, we systematically irrigated the surgical wounds of patients undergoing spine surgery with a solution of povidone-iodine and hydrogen peroxide. We prospectively recorded the clinical data of patients who underwent spine surgery during 2008 and we compared the results with retrospectively reviewed clinical records of patients operated during 2007. Patients were analyzed for preoperative risk factors, type of surgical procedure, onset of infection, presentation, treatment and outcome. We performed 490 spine surgeries during 2008 and 460 during 2007. We recorded four postoperative infections in 2007 compared to none in 2008. We consider this solution of povidone-iodine plus hydrogen peroxide effective to further reduce the rate of post-operative infection in spine surgery.