• André L Mihaljevic, Rebekka Schirren, Mine Özer, Stephanie Ottl, Sybille Grün, Christoph W Michalski, Mert Erkan, Carsten Jäger, Carolin Reiser-Erkan, Victoria Kehl, Tibor Schuster, Jürgen Roder, Ulf Clauer, Carolin Orlitsch, Tomas F Hoffmann, Reinhard Lange, Thomas Harzenetter, Phillip Steiner, Milena Michalski, Karl Henkel, Josef Stadler, Georg A Pistorius, Anja Jahn, Robert Obermaier, Robert Unger, Roland Strunk, Frank Willeke, Holger Vogelsang, Bert Halve, Karl-Heinz Dietl, Hendrik Hilgenstock, Alexander Meyer, Hans-Jörg Krämling, Markus Wagner, Michael H Schoenberg, Florian Zeller, Johannes Schmidt, Helmut Friess, and Jörg Kleeff.
• *Department of Surgery, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technische Universität München, Ismaningerstraße 22, 81675 Munich, Germany and CHIR-Net Munich †Institute for Medical Statistics and Epidemiology, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technische Universität München, Ismaningerstraße 22, 81675 Munich, Germany ‡Department of Surgery, Kreisklinik Altötting, Vinzenz-von-Paul Straße 10, 84503 Altötting, Germany §Department of Surgery, Maria-Theresia-Klinik, Bavariaring 46, 80336 Munich, Germany ¶Department of Surgery, Ilmtalklinik GmbH Pfaffenhofen, Krankenhausstraße 70, 85276 Pfaffenhofen, Germany ‖Department of Surgery, Klinikum Bogenhausen, Englschalkinger Straße 77, 81925 Munich, Germany **Department of Surgery, Romed Klinikum Prien am Chiemsee, Harrasser Straße 61-63 83209 Prien, Germany ††Department of Surgery, Sozialstiftung Bamberg, Klinikum am Bruderwald, Buger Straße 80, 96049 Bamberg, Germany ‡‡Department of Surgery, Klinikum St Elisabeth Straubing GmbH, St-Elisabeth-Straße 23, 94315 Straubing, Germany §§Department of Surgery, St Marienkrankenhaus GmbH, Kampenstraße 51, 57072 Siegen, Germany ¶¶Department of Surgery, Klinikum Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Auenstraße 6, 82467 Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany ‖‖Department of Surgery, Kliniken Nordoberpfalz AG, Klinikum Weiden, Söllnerstraße 16, 92637 Weiden, Germany ***Johanniter-Krankenhaus Rheinhausen GmbH, Kreuzacker 1-7, 47228 Duisburg, Germany †††Department of Surgery, Evangelisches Krankenhaus Düsseldorf, Kirchfeldstraße 40, 40217 Düsseldorf, Germany ‡‡‡Department of Surgery, Rotkreuzklinikum München, Nymphenburger Straße 163, 80634 Munich, Germany §§§Department of Surgery, Klinikum Freising GmbH, Alois-Steinecker-Straße 18, 85356 Freising, Germany ¶¶¶Department of Surgery, Krankenhaus Landshut-Achdorf, Achdorfer Weg 3, 84036 Landshut, Germany.
• Ann. Surg.. 2014 Nov 1;260(5):730-7; discussion 737-9.

ObjectiveTo determine whether circular plastic wound edge protectors (CWEPs) significantly reduce the rate of surgical site infections (SSIs) in comparison to standard surgical towels in patients undergoing laparotomy.BackgroundSSIs cause substantial morbidity, prolonged hospitalization, and costs and remain one of the most frequent surgical complications. CWEPs have been proposed as a measure to reduce the incidence of SSIs.MethodsIn this randomized controlled, multicenter, 2-arm, parallel-group design, patient- and observer-blinded trial patients undergoing open elective abdominal surgery were assigned to either intraoperative wound coverage with a CWEP or standard coverage with surgical towels. Primary endpoint was superiority of intervention over control in terms of the incidence of SSIs within a 30-day postoperative period.ResultsBetween September 2010 and November 2012, 608 patients undergoing laparotomy were randomized at 16 centers across Germany. Three patients in the device group and 11 patients in the control group did not undergo laparotomy. Patients' and procedural characteristics were well balanced between the 2 groups. Forty-eight patients discontinued the study prematurely, mainly because of relaparotomy (control, n=9; intervention, n=9) and death (control, n=4; intervention, n=7). A total of 79 patients experienced SSIs within 30 days of surgery, 27 of 274 (9.9%) in the device group and 52 of 272 (19.1%) in the control group (odds ratio=0.462, 95% confidence interval: 0.281-0.762; P=0.002). Subgroup analyses indicate that the effect could be more pronounced in colorectal surgery, and in clean-contaminated/contaminated surgeries.ConclusionsOur trial shows that CWEPs are effective at reducing the incidence of SSIs in elective and clean or clean-contaminated open abdominal surgery.

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