Preoperative Shaving with Razor Blades Versus no Preoperative Shaving in Elective Inguinal Hernia Repair: Impact on Surgical Site Infection

Abstract

Background: Body hair could be removed for various reasons including religious, aesthetic, cultural, medical or as a part of preoperative  preparations of surgical patients. It is a common tradition or routine in surgical practice to remove body hair preoperatively as its  presence can interfere with the surgical incisions, wound closure and the application of adhesive wound dressings. Hair is also perceived  to be associated with poor personal hygiene and the removal of body hair is thought to reduce the risk of surgical site infection (SSI).  However, there are studies which claim that preoperative hair removal is deleterious perhaps by increasing the incidence of SSI, and  should not necessarily be carried out.

Objectives: To determine the rate of surgical site infection associated with preoperative shaving of  the operative site with razor blade versus no preoperative shaving in elective inguinal hernia repair, and to determine patients' levels of  satisfaction with each preoperative method.

Methods: We enrolled sixty consecutively consenting patients who met the inclusion criteria  for elective inguinal hernia repair in this study. Thirty patients received preoperative hair removal with razor while 30 patients did not. We  assessed postoperative surgical site infection on post-operative days 3, 7, 14, 21and 30. Statistical analysis was done using the  statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) version 17. The results obtained were presented in tables, bar charts and pie charts. P-value  of <0.05 was considered statistically significant by chi-square test.

Results: Out of 60 patients who were recruited for the study, 3(5%) had  postoperative surgical site infection (2 in the shaved group (6.7%) and 1 in the unshaved group (3.3%)) within 30 days in form of mild erythema. The difference, however, was not statistically significant with P-value of 0.554.

Conclusion: This study showed no  advantage of preoperative shaving with razor over no preoperative shaving in elective inguinal hernia repair with respect to prevention  of surgical site infection. There was slightly higher surgical site infection rate associated with preoperative shaving, but the difference is  not statistically significant.