Surgical Handwashing: Drying With One or Two Surgical Towels

NCT06420934 | Recruiting

• 1 other identifier: 2022121502-001
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 72
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

This study aims to determine whether the use of two sterile towels for drying after surgical handwashing results in fewer contamination events compared to the use of only one towel among healthcare personnel. This randomized, multicenter, superiority-controlled trial will enroll up to 72 healthcare workers and surgical residents from three hospitals in Bogotá, Colombia. A fluorescent product will simulate bacteria, and contamination will be assessed by evaluating the presence of fluorescent cream after hand drying technique with either two or one surgical sterile towel. Data will be collected through REDCap and deidentified. Differences in the proportion of contamination between the two groups will be assessed using an exact Fischer test, and confounding variables will be included in the analysis through logistic multivariate regression, with a significance level set a priori at 0.05. Results will be submitted for publication in a peer-reviewed journal.

Conditions

Hand Hygiene; Surgical Wound Infection; Healthcare Associated Infection; Medical Errors

Keywords

Surgical Scrubbing; Handwashing; Disinfection; Healthcare Associated Infection; Hand Hygiene

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Contamination

  Presence or absence of fluorescent cream on the upper extremities will be evaluated using a UV light lamp in a dark room. If fluorescence is observed in the washed area where it was not applied, it will be considered that there was contamination during the hand drying process.

  3 minutes after handwash and hand drying.

Study Arms (2)

One surgical towel

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

Participants will be asked to remove all accessories from the forearm, wrist, fingers and to roll up any clothing until at least 5 cm above the humeral condyles are exposed. They will be instructed to perform conventional surgical scrubbing and to dry their hands with a conventional paper towel. The research assistant will open the opaque envelope, which will indicate that the participant needs to dry their hands with one surgical towel.

Other: Drying procedure after surgical handwashing

Two surgical towel

EXPERIMENTAL

Participants will be asked to remove all accessories from the forearm, wrist, fingers and to roll up any clothing until at least 5 cm above the humeral condyles are exposed. They will be instructed to perform conventional surgical scrubbing and to dry their hands with a conventional paper towel. The research assistant will open the opaque envelope, which will indicate that the participant needs to dry their hands with two surgical towels, one for each hand.

Other: Drying procedure after surgical handwashing

Interventions

Drying procedure after surgical handwashing OTHER

Participants will dry their hands with one surgical towel

One surgical towel; Two surgical towel

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Workers and students who have a current affiliation with the institutions where the study will be executed.
• Workers and students whose practice or work involves performing surgical handwashing at least once a week for invasive procedures.

You may not qualify if:

• Workers and students who do not wish to participate in the study.
• Workers and students whose work activities do not allow them time to participate in the study.
• Workers and students who are allergic to the fluorescent cream
• Workers and students whose nails exceed a length of 0.5 cm from the fingertip edge.
• Workers and students whose nails are painted with polish.
• Workers and students who refuse to remove jewelry and accessories from wrists and hands.
• Workers and students with recent wounds on hands or forearms, including tattoos done in the last month.
• Workers and students who do not adhere to the handwashing and drying technique taught prior to the study's implementation.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Instituto de Ortopedia Infantil Roosevelt: lead
• Hospital Universitario San Ignacio: collaborator
• Hospital Militar Central, Argentina: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

Instituto Ortopedia Infantil Roosevelt

Bogotá, Bogota D.C., 110231, Colombia

RECRUITING

Related Publications (11)

• WHO Guidelines on Hand Hygiene in Health Care: First Global Patient Safety Challenge Clean Care Is Safer Care. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2009. Available from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK144013/

  PMID: 23805438 BACKGROUND

• Nicolay CR. Hand hygiene: an evidence-based review for surgeons. Int J Surg. 2006;4(1):53-65. doi: 10.1016/j.ijsu.2005.06.002. Epub 2005 Aug 1.

  PMID: 17462314 BACKGROUND

• Huang C, Ma W, Stack S. The hygienic efficacy of different hand-drying methods: a review of the evidence. Mayo Clin Proc. 2012 Aug;87(8):791-8. doi: 10.1016/j.mayocp.2012.02.019. Epub 2012 May 31.

  PMID: 22656243 BACKGROUND

• Gustafson DR, Vetter EA, Larson DR, Ilstrup DM, Maker MD, Thompson RL, Cockerill FR 3rd. Effects of 4 hand-drying methods for removing bacteria from washed hands: a randomized trial. Mayo Clin Proc. 2000 Jul;75(7):705-8. doi: 10.4065/75.7.705.

  PMID: 10907386 BACKGROUND

• Suen LKP, Lung VYT, Boost MV, Au-Yeung CH, Siu GKH. Microbiological evaluation of different hand drying methods for removing bacteria from washed hands. Sci Rep. 2019 Sep 24;9(1):13754. doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-50239-4.

  PMID: 31551459 BACKGROUND

• Mutters R, Warnes SL. The method used to dry washed hands affects the number and type of transient and residential bacteria remaining on the skin. J Hosp Infect. 2019 Apr;101(4):408-413. doi: 10.1016/j.jhin.2018.12.005. Epub 2018 Dec 8.

  PMID: 30537524 BACKGROUND

• Handaya AY, Werdana VAP. Adherence to preoperative hand hygiene and sterile gowning technique among consultant surgeons, surgical residents, and nurses: a pilot study at an academic medical center in Indonesia. Patient Saf Surg. 2019 Mar 11;13:11. doi: 10.1186/s13037-019-0193-5. eCollection 2019.

  PMID: 30899331 BACKGROUND

• Skodova M, Garcia Urra F, Gimeno Benitez A, Jimenez Romano MR, Gimeno Ortiz A. Hand hygiene assessment in the workplace using a UV lamp. Am J Infect Control. 2015 Dec 1;43(12):1360-2. doi: 10.1016/j.ajic.2015.07.003. Epub 2015 Aug 18.

  PMID: 26297523 BACKGROUND

• Szilagyi L, Lehotsky A, Nagy M, Haidegger T, Benyo B, Benyo Z. Stery-hand: A new device to support hand disinfection. Annu Int Conf IEEE Eng Med Biol Soc. 2010;2010:4756-9. doi: 10.1109/IEMBS.2010.5626377.

  PMID: 21096021 BACKGROUND

• Sakmen KD, Sterz J, Stefanescu MC, Zabel J, Lehmann M, Ruesseler M. Impact of the teaching method of the rub-in technique for learning hygienic hand disinfection in medical studies: a comparative effectiveness analysis of two techniques. GMS Hyg Infect Control. 2019 Nov 13;14:Doc17. doi: 10.3205/dgkh000332. eCollection 2019.

  PMID: 31815090 BACKGROUND

• Marena C, Lodola L, Zecca M, Bulgheroni A, Carretto E, Maserati R, Zambianchi L. Assessment of handwashing practices with chemical and microbiologic methods: preliminary results from a prospective crossover study. Am J Infect Control. 2002 Oct;30(6):334-40. doi: 10.1067/mic.2002.125809.

  PMID: 12360141 BACKGROUND

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Surgical Wound Infection; Cross Infection

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Wound Infection; Infections; Postoperative Complications; Pathologic Processes; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms; Iatrogenic Disease; Disease Attributes

Central Study Contacts

Monica Botero-Bermúdez, MD, MSc

CONTACT

+573203049826; monica.botero@javeriana.edu.co

Maria F Garcia, MD, MSc

CONTACT

+573208541343; f.garcia@ioir.org.co

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: DOUBLE
• Who Masked: INVESTIGATOR, OUTCOMES ASSESSOR
• Masking Details: Masking will be provided to data analysis expert.
• Purpose: HEALTH SERVICES RESEARCH
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: May 15, 2024
• First Posted: May 20, 2024
• Study Start: April 26, 2024
• Primary Completion: December 30, 2024
• Study Completion: June 30, 2025
• Last Updated: October 2, 2024

Record last verified: 2024-10

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

CO (1)