Infections in Orthopedics: Patient Preparation and Skin Scrub

Abstract

With the introduction of antiseptic surgery by Lister at the end of the last century, sterilization of the hands of the operating team became a cardinal requirement. The first antiseptic chosen for the purpose was phenol -- a substance which was anything but kind to the surgeons’ hands. At a later date, mercurials replaced phenol. Although the mercurials were found eventually to be inefficient degerming agents since they are bacteriostatic but not bactericidal, they made a most vital, albeit accidental, contribution to surgical antisepsis by leading to the development of the surgical rubber glove. Originally produced to protect the hands of Halsted’s operating room nurse from the antiseptic to which she became sensitized, these gloves were not used as a deliberate barrier against contamination of the surgical site.