What Is Your Best Advice for Buying Prepping Products?

Going latex-free
For the most part, we try to buy latex-free prepping kits. Be sure to trial the gloves in these kits extensively, however. We've found that the latex-free gloves in the kits are generally less than adequate when compared to those that you buy when you're ordering just gloves.

Gain consensus
Get your physicians to agree on the same type of prep. It'll save money and the potential hassle of using the wrong prep.

Prioritize efficiency
We've found gel preps to be very inefficient; I have seen many preps done using such products, and I've not seen one done without having to touch some part of the sponge that has already been used. Until gel preps come with more sponges in the sets, for efficiency's sake, we stick with good old-fashioned povidone iodine, cotton swabs and lots of sponges.

Yvonne Campbell, CST
Materials Manager
Winter Haven Amublatory Surgical Center
Winter Haven, Fla.
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Ask for opinions
Get physician input, based on their experiences, regarding the preps they want you to buy. Wound infections are directly related to the efficiency of the surgical prep, and your surgeon will probably have good knowledge of infection rates from following up with patients.

Richard Mattison, MD
Tuxedo Surgery Center
Atlanta
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Care for patients' skin
We've found that an alcohol and iodophor prep is effective and efficient, but keep this in mind: Our surgeons' preference is to remove the solution as soon as possible after the procedure because of the skin irritation the prep causes on patients.

Be aware of fire safety
If you're going to use an alcohol-based prep, be careful. Many of our surgeons like it, but you need to take precautions - such as letting the surgical prep dry completely before draping - to prevent potential fire hazards.

Compare apples to apples
Different products have different exposure and drying times. These are certainly factors to consider when comparing the convenience of a prepping solution, but you cannot judge clinical efficacy based on the fact that one takes two minutes to apply and the other five. Other factors to consider instead: skin irritation, compatibility with organic matter, soaps, detergents and/or alcohol, the rapidity of microbe kill, whether the solution is flammable and whether the solution is compatible with the surgical gloves in use.

See what's new
Povidone iodine might still be the standard, but there are more alternatives available now than ever. Put several to the test to see if your surgeons and staff find something that's more efficient for them.

Dennis Fowler, RN
Purchasing Agent
East Columbus Surgery Center
Columbus, Ohio
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Lower infection rates
It might be beneficial to trial some new products. We recently changed from the traditional iodine prep to an alcohol-based one and have lowered our infection rates as a result.

Prevent pooling
Some solutions, namely povidone iodine, are notorious for pooling and running. You should take care to prevent pooling of the agent beneath the patient, and under tourniquet cuffs, electrodes or electrosurgical unit dispersive pads. This is important in order to reduce the risk of chemical burns and electrosurgical injury.