In a clinical study patients were either treated with saline or polyhexanide (PHMB) for intraoperative wound irrigation. Significantly less surgical site infections (SSI) were observed for patients treated with PHMB compared to saline (38% less SSI). For saline, 67.7% of intraoperative swabs taken after irrigation were contamination positive, for PHMB only 21.6%.
Reduction of Postoperative Wound Infections by Antiseptica (RECIPE)?: A Randomized Controlled Trial.
Surgical wound irrigation with PHMB reduced the rate of surgical site infections by 38% compared to irrigation with saline.