Iodine-impregnated incision drapes in spine surgery: impact on surgical site infection

1Master in Health Promotion from Universidade de Santa Cruz do Sul (Unisc). Nurse at Hospital Santa Cruz – Santa Cruz do Sul (RS), Brazil. 2PhD in Cellular and Molecular Biology from Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul. Professor at the Stricto Sensu Program in Health Promotion and the Departments of Health Sciences and Life Sciences of Unisc – Santa Cruz do Sul (RS), Brazil. 3Master in Health Promotion from Unisc. Member of the Hospital Infection Control and Epidemiology Committee of Hospital Santa Cruz – Santa Cruz do Sul (RS), Brazil. 4Neurosurgeon at Hospital Santa Cruz – Santa Cruz do Sul (RS), Brazil. 5Postdoctoral Student in Education at Unisc. Professor at the Stricto Sensu Program in Health Promotion and the Departments of Health Sciences and Life Sciences of Unisc – Santa Cruz do Sul (RS), Brazil. *Corresponding author: elianekrummenauer@gmail.com Received: 01/14/2021 – Approved: 09/01/2021 https://doi.org/10.5327/Z1414-4425202100030004 ABSTRACT: Objective: To evaluate the impact of iodine-impregnated incision drapes (IIIDs) to prevent surgical site infection (SSI) in the spine. Method: Retrospective cohort study comparing SSI outcome in patients in which IIIDs were and were not used, from 2015 to 2019. Results: The overall frequency of SSI was 16.7%, with SSI rate among patients using and not using IIIDs of 40% and 60%, respectively; p = 0.728; 95% confidence interval (95%CI) 0.19– 3.11. Normothermia was the only independent protective factor for SSI (p = 0.043). The treatment of infectious complications resulted in hospital costs increase of 83.6% each day of care. Patients who were treated with IIIDs stayed 10 days less (± 4.9) in hospital. Conclusions: The results suggest that the use of IIIDs was not associated with a lower risk of SSI. These data can be useful for surgical planning and patient safety.