Summary: | Defined as postoperative infections of an incision, organ, or space, surgical site infections (SSIs) are the most common health care-related infections. Surgical infection control measures include staff precautions such as practicing hand hygiene and using barrier devices, and patient-specific perioperative infection control interventions that may include nasal decolonization for Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus), preoperative washing, skin antisepsis, hair removal, glucose control, bowel preparation, and antibiotic prophylaxis. It has been shown that almost half of SSIs may be prevented by applying evidence-based strategies. SSI prevention measures can be bundled to promote staff and patient adherence, but there is a lack of consensus regarding the appropriate components of an infection control bundle. This report is an upgrade from a previous CADTH Reference List report published in 2020, and includes one of the research questions from that report. The aim of the current report is to summarize and critically appraise the relevant evidence-based guidelines identified in the previous report regarding preoperative interventions for the prevention of SSIs
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