Two new studies presented at the the European Society for Cardiovascular Surgery congress show that KIMBERLY CLARK HEALTHCARE’s InteguSeal microbial sealant has reduced the rate of surgical site infections at two hospitals in Europe.
Dr Pascal Dohmen from the Charite Hospital in Berlin presented an abstract which showed that the use of InteguSeal in addition to institutional preoperative preparation significantly reduced the risk of surgical site infection (SSI) in high risk patients undergoing cardiac surgery. The clinical end-point showed a decrease of SSI in the microbial sealant group to 2.5% (n=4) versus the control group at 7.6% (n=10), (p<0.045). A study led by Dr Filip Pekar at the Banska Bystrica cardio centre in Slovakia also revealed that the addition of InteguSeal to standard perioperative SSI control techniques reduced the prevalence of SSI. The prevalence of SSI in the control group was 4.18% (17/407) and, in the study population, the prevalence of SSI was reduced to 1.6% (11/684), (p=0.0158). InteguSeal works by forming a protective layer that prevents skin flora from migrating into the incision sealing and immobilising dangerous pathogens, including MRSA.
