Surgical site infections (SSIs) affect approximately 300,000 patients annually in the United States, representing 20% of all healthcare-associated infections. SSIs increase hospital length of stay by 7–10 days, double 30-day readmission rates, and drive $3.5 billion in excess annual healthcare costs. CMS includes SSI rate in the Hospital Value-Based Purchasing Program, creating strong incentive alignment. The evidence-based SSI prevention bundle — standardized across the WHO, CDC, and SHEA guidelines — requires correct supply protocols as much as surgical technique. Our OR & Surgery catalog includes over 27,000 products from Cardinal Health, Medline, Halyard, and Mölnlycke.
Preoperative Skin Preparation
CHG-alcohol skin preparation is now standard of care for most surgical skin antisepsis, based on landmark evidence from NEJM (Darouiche et al., 2010) demonstrating 41% SSI reduction vs povidone-iodine. CHG-impregnated applicators (BD ChloraPrep, Cardinal Health ChloraPrep) deliver 2% CHG + 70% isopropyl alcohol in a single-use applicator. Application technique requires 30-second active scrubbing followed by 3-minute dry time — insufficient contact time negates the antimicrobial benefit. For mucous membranes and areas where alcohol is contraindicated, 10% povidone-iodine or 0.5% CHG aqueous solution are alternatives. Both are available in our OR supplies section.
Surgical Draping
Patient draping creates the sterile field that separates the surgical site from non-sterile surfaces. Adhesive incise drapes with CHG (3M Ioban Antimicrobial Incise Drape) create a bacteriostatic adhesive zone around the incision, continuously releasing CHG during surgery to reduce dermal bacteria that contaminate the wound as the patient's flora migrate. A Cochrane review found CHG-impregnated incise drapes reduced SSI rates in cardiac surgery, consistent with their NICE guideline recommendation. Non-CHG plain incise drapes are an alternative. Universal sterile draping packs, body-specific drapes, and individual draping components are all available through our OR & Surgery catalog.
Surgical Attire and Traffic Control
AORN evidence-based guidelines require: (1) freshly laundered hospital-provided surgical attire for all OR personnel; (2) surgical masks covering nose and mouth within the sterile field — specifically filtering facepiece respirators for team members with beards; (3) sterile gowns and gloves for scrubbed personnel, with double gloving recommended for total joint arthroplasty and other high-SSI-risk procedures. OR traffic control — limiting door openings during procedures (each door opening introduces turbulent airflow contaminating the sterile field) — is underappreciated but measurably effective: each door opening during total joint arthroplasty increases contamination particle count by 30–40%. Surgical gowns, caps, masks, and sterile gloves from our PPE catalog and OR section are available in procedure-specific custom packs.
Irrigation and Wound Closure
High-pressure pulsatile irrigation of surgical wounds before closure reduces bacterial load and is associated with SSI reduction in contaminated surgical cases. Wound irrigation systems and single-use pulsatile lavage handpieces are available in our OR catalog. Wound closure adhesives (2-octylcyanoacrylate, e.g., Dermabond) provide a microbial barrier at the incision line and have demonstrated SSI reduction in laparoscopic and percutaneous access site closures. Absorbable sutures with triclosan antimicrobial coating (Ethicon PLUS sutures, Covidien Biosyn) reduce SSI rates by 30% vs uncoated sutures in meta-analysis — a supply-level intervention with strong evidence basis.
