Intraoperative microbiological observations following different surgical hand antisepsis techniques: a prospective descriptive study

Aims: Surgical site infections (SSIs) constitute a significant proportion of hospital-acquired infections. This study aimed to describe time-dependent intraoperative microbiological findings associated with three surgical hand antisepsis techniques.Methods: This prospective study was conducted in clean orthopedic surgical procedures. Three surgical hand antisepsis techniques were evaluated: traditional surgical handwashing with antimicrobial soap and water, alcohol-based hand rub, and chlorhexidine gluconate scrub without rinsing. Swab samples were collected from standardized areas of the surgeon’s dominant hand at the 30th minute, 1st hour, and 2nd hour of surgery to assess microbial contamination. Results: Detectable microbial growth was not identified in any of the collected samples at the evaluated intraoperative time points under the study conditions. Intraoperative cultures remained uniformly negative across the assessed antisepsis techniques. Conclusion: Across the evaluated intraoperative time intervals, samples obtained after the assessed surgical hand antisepsis techniques remained culture-negative under the study conditions. Given the absence of measurable variability in microbiological findings, the results should be interpreted as descriptive intraoperative observations within the methodological scope of the study.