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Routine glove and instrument change prior to closure of abdominal incisions (December 2022)
Whether changing gloves and using new instruments prior to wound closure affects surgical site infection (SSI) rates is uncertain. In an unblinded cluster randomized trial of over 13,000 patients undergoing intra-abdominal surgery in low- to middle-income (LMIC) countries, the risk of SSI was lower when routine glove and sterile instrument change was performed prior to closure compared with no glove or instrument change (16 versus 19%).1 The results from this...
