Surgical site infections (SSI) remain a significant cause of postoperative complications, adversely affecting patient outcomes, quality of life, healthcare costs, and mortality. This project aims to evaluate the effectiveness of implementing a universal preoperative decolonization protocol, using chlorhexidine (CHG) bathing and intranasal povidone-iodine, in reducing SSI rates. This protocol will be applied to all adult patients undergoing invasive surgical procedures involving an incision at a level-one trauma acute care hospital, regardless of surgical urgency or admission status. To improve compliance, CHG will be provided for home use and will also be available for administration at the facility, particularly inpatients, those that do not complete prior to surgery, or those undergoing emergent procedures. Intranasal povidone-iodine will be administered to all eligible patients prior to surgery in the preoperative area, or in the case of emergency surgeries, in the operating room. In addition to product administration, robust patient and staff education will be provided to ensure adherence and standardization utilizing a step-by-step tool. The effectiveness of this intervention will be assessed by comparing post-implementation SSI surveillance data to retrospective pre-intervention data, as outlined by the CDC. Anticipated outcomes include improved decolonization protocol compliance, reduction in SSIs, and enhanced patient safety, supporting use of this universal decolonization protocol to be considered as a standard infection prevention practice across perioperative settings.
