The basic principles of the skin prep:

The basic principles of the skin prep:

• A. is a method to prevent surgical site infection
• B. is performed prior to draping
• C. is a method to reduce the number of transient and normal microorganisms to an absolute minimum
• D. all of the above

Answer: (D)

The basic idea is to lower the skin’s microbial load to reduce the risk of surgical site infection. This is done before applying sterile drapes so that microbes removed or killed during prep don’t contaminate the sterile field. The prep targets both transient organisms picked up from contact and daily activity, and the resident normal flora that live on the skin; the goal is to reduce them to the lowest practical level achievable with the antiseptic technique. Together, these principles explain why all of the statements are correct.

The basic idea is to lower the skin’s microbial load to reduce the risk of surgical site infection. This is done before applying sterile drapes so that microbes removed or killed during prep don’t contaminate the sterile field. The prep targets both transient organisms picked up from contact and daily activity, and the resident normal flora that live on the skin; the goal is to reduce them to the lowest practical level achievable with the antiseptic technique. Together, these principles explain why all of the statements are correct.