Bathing trauma patients daily using cloths containing the antiseptic chlorhexidine may be associated with a decreased rate of colonisation and infection by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).
In a study, doctors followed 253 patients admitted to a trauma centre who were bathed at least once daily using a single-use cloth bath product not known to have antibacterial or antiseptic properties. From May-October 2007, 286 patients in the same centre received daily baths in cloths impregnanted with a 2 per cent chlorhexidine solution.
Patients receiving chlor-hexidine baths were significantly less likely to acquire a catheter-related bloodstream infection or ventilator-associated pneumonia caused by MRSA than those who received baths with the non-medicated cloth.
In addition, the rates of colonisation with MRSA and Acinetobacter were lower among those in the chlorhexidine group.
“Antibiotic-resistant bacteria pose a unique challenge, and substantial resources are devoted to infection control to reduce their transmission. Patients with severe disease, recent surgery and indwelling devices are at higher risk of colonisation and infection; trauma patients, in particular, are at risk of MRSA and vancomycin-resistant enterococci,” the study’s authors reported.
The cloths should not be considered a replacement for hand hygiene or other precautions, but they may supplement these efforts, the doctors added.
“Our findings support the use of routine chlorhexidine bathing as an adjunctive infection-control measure to reduce transmission of MRSA, A. baumannii and potentially other epidemiologically important organisms.”
Archives of Surgery 2010;145:240-246
About Greg Baxter
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