Does preoperative topical antimicrobial scrub reduce positive surgical site culture rates in men undergoing artificial urinary sphincter placement?

PURPOSE: We determined if the incidence of a perioperative surgical site-positive culture was reduced by a 5-day topical antimicrobial scrub before implantation of an artificial urinary sphincter.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: A single surgeon prospective cohort study was conducted of 100 consecutive artificial urinary sphincter implants placed between May 2003 and November 2005. We compared 50 men who performed preoperative topical antimicrobial scrub with 4% chlorhexidine to the abdominal site and perineal site with 50 men who used their normal hygiene (soap and water). All received povidone-iodine skin disinfection before incision, and bacterial cultures of the abdominal and perineal sites were collected immediately after skin disinfection and after artificial urinary sphincter implantation. Baseline comparisons between groups were done with the Wilcoxon rank sum and Fisher exact tests. Predictors of positive culture were identified using multivariate logistic regression analysis.

RESULTS: The causes of incontinence were radical prostatectomy (90), radiation therapy (8) and transurethral resection of the prostate (2). There were no baseline differences between the groups including age, diabetes or previous urethral surgery. Overall 140 of the 400 cultures were positive with only 37% of the positive cultures (52 of 140) observed with topical antimicrobial scrub. For the perineal site the only factor affecting preoperative culture status was topical antimicrobial scrub (OR 0.23, p = 0.003). A positive postoperative culture was predicted by a positive preoperative perineal (OR 4.61, p = 0.003) and abdominal culture (OR 3.80, p = 0.013).

CONCLUSIONS: Preoperative topical antimicrobial scrub resulted in a 4-fold reduction in preoperative perineal colonization rate and overall reduction in positive surgical site cultures. Given the low cost, safety and efficacy, topical antimicrobial scrub should be considered before artificial urinary sphincter placement.