Verwilghen D, Grulke S, Kampf G. Department of Clinical Sciences of Companion Animals and Equids, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of Liege, Liege, Belgium BODE Chemie GmbH, Scientific Affairs, Hamburg, Germany Institut für Hygiene und Umweltmedizin, Ernst-Moritz-Arndt Universität Greifswa Vet Surg 2011 Jul 40 5 515-21 Objective: To assess current habits for surgical hand preparation among veterinary surgical specialists and to compare data with current guidelines for hand asepsis techniques. Study design: Survey of veterinary surgical specialists. Sample Population: Diplomates of the American (ACVS) and European Colleges of Veterinary Surgeons (ECVS). Methods: An internet-based survey of hand preparation methods before surgical procedures was conducted of 1300 listed ACVS and ECVS Diplomates. Results: A 42.6% response rate was obtained. Approximately, 80% of respondents use disinfecting soaps as a primary method for hand antisepsis. Of those, 81% use chlorhexidine-based scrubs and 7% use a neutral soap followed by a hydroalcoholic solution. Conclusions: Contrary to current recommendations of the World Health Organization and scientific evidence supporting use of hydro-alcoholic rubs for presurgical hand preparation, veterinary surgical specialists still use surgical scrub solutions containing disinfecting soaps.

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