Large variations in the practice patterns of surgical antiseptic preparation solutions in patients with open and closed extremity fractures: a cross-sectional survey

We developed a questionnaire using the previous literature and key informants to examine preferences and practices of orthopaedic surgeons for early management of open fracture wounds, and the preoperative antiseptic skin preparation practices for open and closed extremity fractures. The survey was reviewed by five experts, including three orthopaedic surgeons and two epidemiologists, to ensure that nothing vital was missed and to ensure that the wording of the questions was clear and precise.

We pretested the questionnaire in an independent group of five orthopaedic surgeons with experience in clinical research and the treatment of open and closed fractures to evaluate whether the questionnaire adequately encompassed current management practices (face validity), and whether the individual questions adequately addressed the objectives of the current study (content validity). This group of surgeons also commented on the clarity and comprehensiveness of the questionnaire. The survey was revised based upon the recommendations of this independent group and retested in the same group until no additional issues or concerns were identified.

The final survey was comprised of 27 questions using check-boxes and brief open-ended questions. All of the questions used clear and widely recognized terminology to enhance the validity of results. The survey length was kept to a minimum to maximize response rate and to limit respondent fatigue. The survey included questions about the participants’ demographics, location of practice, type of practice (community or academic), and their number of years of experience treating fracture patients. It also included questions about early open fracture wound management, the use of single or multiple surgical antiseptics for both open and closed fractures, type(s) of antiseptics used, irrigation procedures, the use of dressings on open wounds, and what typically guides surgeons’ clinical decision making, as well as their perceptions on the importance of antiseptic selection in the prevention of an SSI. Finally, respondents were asked several questions about their personal interest in participating in future clinical trials comparing different surgical antiseptic preparation solutions. All questions were in the context of the preoperative surgical care of fracture patients with the focus being on how to prevent SSI of the current fracture rather than the prevention of secondary infections. The questions were not randomized and we used adaptive questioning for certain items. All questions fit an average screen, with 1 question per page. All questions had to be completed, and respondents were able to go back and review their previous answers. Please refer to Additional file 1 for a copy of the survey.

The survey was made available to 2149 active members of the Canadian Orthopaedic Association (COA), Canadian Orthopaedic Trauma Society (COTS), and the Orthopaedic Trauma Association (OTA) through email messages from the corresponding association. The e-mail included a link to the online survey and information about the survey’s purpose, how their data would be stored and used, the length of time required to complete the survey, and the investigators’ contact information. Follow-up emails at 2 weeks and at 4 weeks following the initial request were sent to aid in increasing the response rate among survey participants. Participants were assigned a unique ID when opening the link to our survey which they would only be able to answer once; the IP address of each client computer was also used to identify any potential duplicate entries from the same user. Completion of the survey was considered as implicit consent. All surveys were completed using SurveyMonkey, an online survey development cloud-based software that includes data analysis, sample selection, bias elimination, and data representation tools. No monetary incentives or pre-notification telephone calls were used for this survey. Questionnaire completion was voluntary and individual responses were kept confidential, only being accessible through a password protected account. The data was collected from November 2016 to May 2017.

To determine the number of respondents needed to sufficiently power our analysis, we assumed that approximately 50% of surgeons surveyed would use a surgical antiseptic preparation solution with chlorhexidine gluconate and 50% of surgeons would use a surgical antiseptic preparation solution with iodine as their preferred choice. The calculation for appropriate sample size was performed according to the following formula, assuming a 95% confidence interval for the estimate: N = (Z_α/w)² p(1 - p), [Where: Z = z value (1.96 for 95% confidence interval); w = width of the confidence interval, expressed as decimal (0.07 to give ±7); p = hypothesized proportion of who would use a surgical antiseptic preparation solution with chlorhexidine gluconate, expressed in decimal (70% = 0.70)]. According to our calculation, approximately 164 completed questionnaires would facilitate a meaningful analysis.

We summarized all categorical and dichotomous variables with frequencies and percentages. Only completed questionnaires were analyzed. Continuous data were described with means and standard deviations (SDs). All analyses were conducted in SPSS Version 25.0 (IBM Corporation, Armonk, NY).

A total of 210 surveys were completed. Most of the respondents were from North America (45.2%), Europe (25.7%), or Asia (18.1%) (Table 1). Nearly 93% of the respondents were men and the mean age was 47.7 ± 8.2 years. Approximately three-quarters of the respondents practiced in an academic teaching hospital and most respondents (82.4%) had 10 or more years’ experience treating fracture patients.

More than two-thirds (149/210 = 71.0%) of the responders indicated that they irrigate the open wound and skin in the emergency department. Among these 149 surgeons, almost two-thirds, indicated that the irrigation is conducted following orthopaedic surgeon consultation (95/149 = 63.8%), whereas a third indicated that the irrigation is performed immediately upon arrival to emergency department (52/149 = 34.9%). Among those who irrigated the open wound in the emergency room, more than half (89/149 = 59.7%) used saline alone, 32.9% used an aqueous-iodophor solution (e.g. Betadine®), and 7.4% used either CHG or iodine in an alcohol-based solution (Table 2).

Most surgeons indicated that they always dress the open wound in the emergency department (90.5%) and approximately one-third used a sterile dry-dressing (75/205 = 36.6%). 41.0% (84/205) used a saline-soaked dressing and a third indicated that they use an iodine-soaked dressing (69/205 = 33.7%). Please note that surgeons were able to select more than one response when indicating the type of dressing used.

Surgeons were asked if it was in their routine practice to use only a single antiseptic surgical preparation solution or multiple antiseptic surgical preparation solutions when preparing an open fracture for surgery. 53.8% (113/210) of the respondents indicated that they routinely use multiple antiseptic surgical preparation solutions when preparing an open fracture for surgery (Table 3). Surgeons were then asked to indicate from the following, 1) CHG in an alcohol-based solution, 2) CHG in an aqueous-based solution, 3) aqueous-iodophor solution, 4) alcohol-iodophor solution, and 5) alcohol, what type of antiseptic surgical preparation solution(s) they used when preparing an open fracture for surgery. For this question, surgeons were able to select more than one antiseptic surgical preparation solution as a response. 41.0% of the respondents indicated that they use only iodine-based solution(s) (either aqueous- or alcohol-based) in their preparation practices for open fractures, 26.7% indicated the use of only CHG-based solution(s) (either aqueous- or alcohol-based), and 31.4% indicated that they use a combination of both CHG-based and iodine-based solutions (either aqueous- or alcohol-based) (Table 4). 51.4% of the respondents indicated that they used an alcohol-based solution or added alcohol alone in their preparation practices for open fractures. Specifically, 35.7% used an alcohol-CHG preparation solution (Chloraprep®, Soluprep® or equivalents), 7.6% (16/210) used an alcohol-iodophor preparation solution (Duraprep™ and equivalents), and 20.0% added alcohol alone as part of the surgical preparation routine. While the results of this survey suggest that many orthopaedic surgeons use alcohol-containing antiseptics or add alcohol alone for surgical skin preparation of open fractures, the orthopaedic community also indicated in the open-ended questions of the survey that it follows standard precautions regarding the use of alcohol antiseptic solutions in order to prevent pooling of the solutions and ensure that adequate drying (evaporation) takes place to avoid the flammability risks from electrocautery. Of total, we found 20 different preoperative antiseptic regimens in open fractures for preventing SSI in open fractures.

Surgeons were asked if it was in their routine practice to use only a single antiseptic surgical preparation solution or multiple antiseptic surgical preparation solutions when preparing a closed fracture for surgery. 65.7% (138/210) of the respondents indicated that they routinely use multiple antiseptic surgical preparation solutions when preparing a closed fracture for surgery (Table 3). Surgeons were then asked to indicate from the following, 1) CHG in an alcohol-based solution, 2) CHG in an aqueous-based solution, 3) aqueous-iodophor solution, 4) alcohol-iodophor solution, and 5) alcohol, what type of antiseptic surgical preparation solution(s) they used when preparing a closed fracture for surgery. For this question, surgeons were able to select more than one antiseptic surgical preparation solution as a response. 43.8% of the respondents indicated that they use only CHG-based solution(s) (either aqueous- or alcohol-based) in their preparation practices for closed fractures, 28.1% indicated the use of only iodine-based solution(s) (either aqueous- or alcohol-based), and 27.1% of respondents indicated that they use a combination of both CHG-based and iodine-based solutions (either aqueous- or alcohol-based) (Table 4). Most of the respondents used an alcohol-based solution or alcohol alone (169/210 = 80.5%) in their preparation practices for closed fractures. Specifically, 57.6% (121/210) used an alcohol-CHG preparation (Chloraprep®, Soluprep® or equivalents), 25.2% (53/210) added alcohol alone, and 13.8% (29/210) used an alcohol-iodophor preparation (Duraprep™ and equivalents) solution as part of the preparation practices. Of total, we found 26 different preoperative antiseptic regimens in closed fractures for preventing SSI in closed fractures.

Surgeons were able to select more than one response when indicating what factors influence their decision to use surgical antiseptic preparation solution(s) when preparing a fracture for surgery. Surgeons indicated that their decision to use antiseptic surgical preparation solution(s) in open fractures was influenced by hospital and/or operating room policy (46.7%), personal experience (43.3%), and experience during training (38.1%). Choice of antiseptic surgical preparation solution(s) in closed fractures was influenced by hospital and/or operating room policy (57.6%), literature (41.9%), and personal experience (39.0%) (Table 5).

More than half of the respondents (54.3%) supported the idea of participating in a randomized controlled trial comparing different surgical antiseptic preparation solutions for both open and closed fractures. Almost half of the surgeons who completed the survey (45.2%) indicated that they would participate in a randomized controlled trial comparing different antiseptic preparation solutions in the emergency room setting.