Is it necessary to shave the area to be surgically removed?

This article is professionally consulted by resident Doctor Le Thanh Tuan - Department of General Surgery - Vinmec Nha Trang International Hospital. The doctor has extensive experience in examination, treatment and surgery of abdominal diseases.

Surgery is a special treatment intervention on the patient, requiring careful preparation from many sides to achieve the highest success. In particular, the patient's own role also plays a significant role, especially in skin hygiene. However, the regulations on shaving the area for surgery are not well known.

As defined by the World Health Organization, nosocomial infections are infections that occur 48 hours after a patient's admission to the hospital. This is always a burning problem all over the world, increasing the number of days of treatment, the cost of treatment, increasing the resistance of microorganisms and the mortality rate. Since then, efforts to control factors that increase the risk of hospital-acquired infections have always been a huge challenge for healthcare workers as well as managers.
For the group of patients with surgical intervention in particular, this issue becomes more important than ever. Because, the loss of skin surface integrity is inherently a risk factor that increases hospital-acquired infections and especially surgical site infections many times over compared to patients receiving medical treatment alone. The surgical wound can become infected from microorganisms available on the patient, from microorganisms in the environment, from cross-infection of other patients and from the hands of doctors and nurses when examining, care.
Therefore, limiting infection in surgery is the fixed goal of all surgeries. There are many ways to accomplish this goal. In particular, the preparation of the patient's skin before surgery plays an important role in determining the success of the goal of reducing surgical site infection.

How to prepare the patient's skin before surgery is a clearly prescribed step-by-step procedure, applied to all subjects, except for cases requiring emergency surgery. Details of this procedure are presented as follows:
Wash hair and body with regular shampoo and soap; Drain and make sure shampoo and soap are removed from hair and skin; Bathing the whole body one more time with 2% Chlohexidine antiseptic solution. Note that it only applies from the neck down. Absolutely do not let the antiseptic solution come into contact with the skin of the face, eyes, nose and mouth. If the wire is accidentally sticky, it should be washed immediately with plenty of clean water; Rinse with clean water and bathe a second time with 2% Chlohexidine antiseptic solution as above. Need to let the antiseptic solution stay on your skin for at least 1 minute. Rinse and dry with a clean towel; Follow these steps the night before surgery and the morning of surgery. Other notes:
After bathing, it is necessary to wear freshly laundered clothes as well as use new pillowcases and sheets; If you feel tingling or other irritation on your skin, continue rinsing with plenty of water; Your skin may feel a little dry after bathing, but do not use any creams, lotions or moisturizers; Do not use hairspray or other products on your hair; Do not wear makeup, do not use cosmetics, do not paint nails, feet as well as other products applied to the skin and hair.

If in the past, patients were often instructed to clean their own hair, hair, and beard at the surgical preparation area, today the opposite is true. Accordingly, the patient must not shave, hair, or hair within a radius of about 25 cm (12 inches) of the incision area for at least three days before surgery.
Explaining this regulation, there is evidence that shaving causes small cuts in the skin, creating a favorable pathway for bacteria to enter. This exposes the patient to a higher risk of infection, which is detrimental to subsequent wound healing.
One study found that patients who had their hair shaved prior to surgery had an infection rate of 5.6%, compared with less than 1% in the no-intervention group.
In addition, in the guidelines of the association to prevent infection of the surgical site, if the presence of hair or hair interferes with surgery, skin cleansing will be performed in the operating room by the doctor. surgery, after having disinfected the skin many steps carefully. At the same time, it is recommended to use electric trimmer to clean hair and hair instead of conventional manual razors. This will keep skin damage to a minimum.
In short, absolutely do not shave your hair before surgery because it will increase the risk of infection. The best thing is to wash the body clean with a specialized antiseptic solution according to the instructions of the medical staff to ensure the best surgical hygiene, favorable for the wound healing process later.

Aware of the danger of hospital-acquired infections, since the establishment of Vinmec International General Hospital, it has taken this issue very seriously and strictly implemented the principles of preventing hospital-acquired infections. Vinmec's medical team always adheres to hand washing and disinfecting when examining and treating to prevent the risk of infection for patients, ensuring a safe environment for the treatment and recovery process.
Besides, Vinmec invests in a standard isolation disease prevention system; strictly implement isolation, especially for multi-drug resistant bacteria; implementing measures to prevent surgical site infection, implementing operating room safety checklists... Vinmec also implements infection surveillance by specialized staff to ensure absolute compliance with regulations. Anti-infection rules. Therefore, when examining and treating at Vinmec, especially during surgery, patients can be completely assured of the effectiveness of treatment.