# In small animal surgery are alcoholic hand rubs superior to scrubbing brushes and antimicrobial soap at reducing bacterial counts?

## TL;DR

This paper compares the effectiveness of alcoholic hand rubs to scrubbing brushes and antimicrobial soap in reducing bacterial counts before small animal surgery.

## Contribution

It updates a prior study and confirms that alcohol hand rubs are as effective as antimicrobial soap for surgical hand preparation.

## Key findings

- Alcohol hand rubs are as effective as antimicrobial soap for presurgical hand preparation.
- Using alcohol hand rubs saves water and speeds up surgical scrub preparation.
- Including human healthcare studies could strengthen the findings.

## Abstract

This paper is an update to 'In Small Animal Surgery Are Alcoholic Hand Rubs Superior to Scrubbing Brushes and Antimicrobial Soap at Reducing Bacterial Counts?' by Mann (2016).

Please click the link to view the original paper:
https://doi.org/10.18849/ve.v1i4.51
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In small animal surgery are alcoholic hand rubs superior to scrubbing brushes and antimicrobial soap at reducing bacterial counts?

Prevalence.

Two studies. One prospective randomised controlled trial and one clinical trial.

Moderate.

That alcohol hand rubs are as effective, if not more, than antimicrobial soap for presurgical hand preparation when used according to the manufacturer guidelines.

Alcohol hand rubs are as effective than antimicrobial soaps at presurgical hand preparation. If human healthcare studies were included in this Knowledge Summary, the results would likely be stronger and more conclusive so this should be considered for a separate knowledges summary. There are also added benefits to using alcohol hand rubs such as saving water and quicker preparation of the surgical scrub team.