Surgical blades as bacteria dissemination vehicles in dogs undergoing surgery – a pilot study

Abstract

Surgical site infections (SSI) are post-surgical incisional infections in superficial or deep tissues, including organs. Due to their importance in veterinary medicine, the role of surgical blades in bacterial dissemination to internal tissues of dogs undergoing surgery was evaluated. A total of 46 dogs presented for orthopedic or soft tissue surgery in different anatomical regions were included in this study. From each animal two swab samples were collected, from the skin post-asepsis and from the scalpel blade after skin incision, for bacterial growth evaluation in Brain Heart Infusion (BHI) agar and detection of methicillin-resistant species. Results showed that 30.4% (14/46) and 28.3% (13/46) of the post-asepsis and blade samples originated positive bacterial cultures in BHI agar, respectively. However, only 10.8% (5/46) of the positive blade samples also corresponded to a positive post-asepsis sample. Nevertheless, all samples were negative for methicillin-resistant bacteria. Although no dog has developed SSI, the present report showed that the scalpel blade may act as a dissemination vehicle of potential bacterial pathogens to superficial or internal tissues of dogs undergoing surgery, potentially leading to SSI development. Therefore, it is recommended to use a single blade for skin incision and a new blade for the remaining surgical approach, reducing the potential of bacteria dissemination into deeper tissues by the first skin incision blade.