What types of surgical scrub techniques are commonly used?

The common surgical scrub techniques include the timed scrub and counted scrub. The timed scrub involves a specific duration of scrubbing and is based on guidelines that recommend a certain length of time to ensure an adequate reduction of skin flora before a surgical procedure. This method emphasizes thorough and consistent scrubbing to reduce potential contamination.

The counted scrub, meanwhile, is used particularly in situations where a surgical technologist must perform a surgical hand scrub while keeping track of the number of strokes to ensure no area is missed, usually including both hand and forearm scrubbing.

Both techniques aim to achieve the same objective: maximizing the aseptic environment in the surgical field by reducing the number of microorganisms present on the surgical team’s hands and arms before they don sterile gloves and gowns. The effectiveness of these methods in promoting surgical safety and infection control underscores their importance in surgical practices.