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CompletedNCT02395614Updated Jan 26, 2022Results posted

Surgical Site Infection With 0.05% Chlorhexidine (CHG) Compared to Triple Antibiotic Irrigation

An interventional study of Chlorhexidine irrigation and triple antibiotic irrigation in Breast Cancer, sponsored by Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Completed at 1 site in United States. Open to female participants aged 18 Years to 81 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2022-01-26.

Sponsored by Vanderbilt University Medical Center · Not applicable, Interventional, and Treatment

Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
88
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
18 Years to 81 Years
Sex
Female
01

Study summary

The investigators intend to perform a prospective randomized study and compare the incidence of surgical wound infection between mastectomy wounds irrigated with triple antibiotic solution (one side) and 0.05% CHG (opposite side) in patients undergoing bilateral breast reconstruction. Each patient will receive triple antibiotic solution on one breast and the CHG on the other breast.

Read the detailed description

Breast reconstruction with tissue expander (TE) remains the gold standard of breast restoration after mastectomy. During the first stage of reconstruction, a TE is placed under chest muscles and slowly inflated postoperatively over the period of several weeks. After desired volume of TE is achieved it is exchanged for permanent breast prosthesis during another surgery (second stage of reconstruction). Postoperative wound infection after placement of TE can lead to devastating consequences both for patients and a surgeon. Frequently, surgical site infection requires additional surgeries and resulting in the removal of TE and long term IV antibiotic therapy. Therefore, during breast reconstruction procedures all possible measures are implemented to reduce postoperative infection rate. Several studies demonstrated that intra-operative irrigation of surgical wounds with antibiotic containing solution before insertion of breast TE decreases postoperative infection rate. This approach is currently adopted as a standard of care within plastic surgery clinical community.

The investigators intend to perform a prospective randomized study and compare the incidence of surgical wound infection between mastectomy wounds irrigated with triple antibiotic solution (one side) and 0.05% CHG (opposite side) in patients undergoing bilateral breast reconstruction.

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Conditions studied

  • Breast Cancer

Keywords

  • tissue expander
  • breast reconstruction
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In context

Surgical Wound Infection

670 studies on the registry are indexed under Surgical Wound Infection; 141 are open to participants now.

This study's enrollment of 88 is below the median of 200 across 514 interventional studies indexed under Surgical Wound Infection.

Browse Surgical Wound Infection studies →

Lead sponsor

Vanderbilt University Medical Center is the lead sponsor of 824 studies on the registry; 164 are open to participants now.

Of its 122 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 91 (75%) have results posted.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

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Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years to 81 Years
Sexes eligible
Female
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

  • females between 18 - 81 years of age
  • and are undergoing bilateral mastectomy
  • and are candidates for immediate breast reconstruction with tissue expanders.

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • females younger than 18 and older than 81 years of age;
  • undergoing unilateral mastectomy and reconstruction;
  • bilateral reconstruction using other techniques,
  • patients allergic to one or more components of the antibiotic solution;
  • allergy to CHG
05

Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Single group
Masking
Double (Participant, Outcomes assessor)
Enrollment
88 participants (actual)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Chlorhexidine irrigation

    0.05% chlorhexidine solution (IrriSept®) commercially prepared in 450 ml bottles for irrigation. Each patient will receive triple antibiotic solution on one breast and the CHG on the other breast.

    Drug: Chlorhexidine irrigation

  • Active comparator
    triple antibiotic irrigation

    triple antibiotic solution will contain 1 g of cefazolin, 50,000 U of bacitracin, and 80 mg of gentamicin in 500 mL of normal saline (NS). If the patient is allergic to either component - the allergen will not be used in the solution - for irrigation. Each patient will receive triple antibiotic solution on one breast and the CHG on the other breast.

    Drug: triple antibiotic irrigation

Interventions

  • DrugChlorhexidine irrigation

    - 0.05% chlorhexidine solution (IrriSept®) commercially prepared in 450 ml bottles will be used to irrigate one breast pocket. Each patient will receive triple antibiotic solution on one breast and the CHG on the other breast.

    Also known as: CHG

  • Drugtriple antibiotic irrigation

    -triple antibiotic solution will contain 1 g of cefazolin, 50,000 U of bacitracin, and. Each patient will receive triple antibiotic solution on one breast and the CHG on the other breast. 80 mg of gentamicin in 500 mL of NS. If the patient is allergic to either component - the allergen will not be used in the solution - to irrigate one breast pocket

    Also known as: gentamicin, cefazolin and bacitracin

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Number of Participants With Surgical Site Infection

    At all postoperative visits with the reconstructive surgeon, patients were thoroughly examined for presence of SSI (cellulitis, purulent drainage). SSI was defined as any instance where antibiotics were restarted or where erythema, cellulitis, warmth, purulent drainage, or fever occurred. SSI was further classified in 3 categories: minor when requiring oral antibiotics, major when requiring inpatient intravenous antibiotics or operative washout, and finally, explantation.

    Time frame: 6 months

Secondary outcomes

  1. Number of Participants With Flap Necrosis, Hematoma, and Seroma

    At all postoperative visits with the reconstructive surgeon, patients were thoroughly examined for presence of necrosis, seroma, or hematoma.

    Time frame: 6 months

07

Results

Posted Jan 26, 2022

Participant flow

Participant flow — Overall Study
MilestoneParticipants Undergoing Bilateral Mastectomy
Started88
Chlorhexidine irrigation88
Triple antibiotic irrigation88
Completed88
Not completed0

Outcome measures

PrimaryNumber of Participants With Surgical Site Infection

At all postoperative visits with the reconstructive surgeon, patients were thoroughly examined for presence of SSI (cellulitis, purulent drainage). SSI was defined as any instance where antibiotics were restarted or where erythema, cellulitis, warmth, purulent drainage, or fever occurred. SSI was further classified in 3 categories: minor when requiring oral antibiotics, major when requiring inpatient intravenous antibiotics or operative washout, and finally, explantation.

Time frame:
6 months
Reported as:
Number · participants
Number of Participants With Surgical Site Infection
participantsParticipants Undergoing Bilateral Mastectomy
Chlorhexidine irrigation7
Triple antibiotic irrigation4
SecondaryNumber of Participants With Flap Necrosis, Hematoma, and Seroma

At all postoperative visits with the reconstructive surgeon, patients were thoroughly examined for presence of necrosis, seroma, or hematoma.

Time frame:
6 months
Reported as:
Number · participants
Number of Participants With Flap Necrosis, Hematoma, and Seroma
participantsParticipants Undergoing Bilateral Mastectomy
Chlorhexidine irrigation21
Triple antibiotic irrigation23

Adverse events

Collected over 20 months. Non-serious events are listed at a 0% frequency threshold.

Adverse event summary by group
GroupDeathsSeriousOther
Chlorhexidine Irrigation2/88 (2.3%)0/88 (0%)33/88 (37.5%)
Triple Antibiotic Irrigation2/88 (2.3%)0/88 (0%)29/88 (33%)
Most frequent other events
Most frequent other events
EventChlorhexidine IrrigationTriple Antibiotic Irrigation
Necrosis/Hematoma/SeromaBlood and lymphatic system disorders21/8823/88
Surgical site infectionsInfections and infestations7/884/88
Explantation secondary to infectionInfections and infestations5/882/88

Baseline characteristics

Age, Categorical
Age, Categorical(Participants)All Participants
<=18 years0
Between 18 and 65 years88
>=65 years0
Sex/Gender, Customized
Sex/Gender, Customized(Participants)All Participants
Females88
Race (NIH/OMB)
Race (NIH/OMB)(Participants)All Participants
American Indian or Alaska Native0
Asian0
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander0
Black or African American6
White81
More than one race1
Unknown or Not Reported0
Region of Enrollment
Region of Enrollment(Participants)All Participants
United States88
BMI
BMI(kg/m^2)All Participants
Mean28.2 (23.5 to 32.4)
Tobacco use
Tobacco use(Participants)All Participants
Count of participants4
Comorbidities
Comorbidities(Participants)All Participants
Diabetes5
Hypertension15
DVT2
Bleeding disorders2
No comorbidities64
Indication for mastectomy
Indication for mastectomy(Participants)All Participants
Unilateral cancer71
Bilateral cancer5
Bilateral risk reducing12

2 further baseline measures are reported on the registry.

08

Study locations

1 site
  • Vanderbilt University Medical Center
    Nashville, Tennessee 37232, United States
09

References and documents

Study documents

  • Protocol and statistical analysis plan · Apr 1, 2014
  • Informed consent form · Jun 20, 2018

Documents are hosted by the registry — open the source record to download them.

Individual participant data

Plan to share: No

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Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Jan 26, 2022, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
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Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT02395614
Lead sponsor
Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Responsible party
Kent Higdon (MD, Vanderbilt University Medical Center) — Principal investigator
First posted
Mar 23, 2015
Start date
Dec 2015
Primary completion
Dec 2020
Completion
Dec 2020
Results posted
Jan 26, 2022
Last update
Jan 26, 2022

Study contacts

Kent Higdon, MD
principal investigator · Vanderbilt University Medical Center

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

Not currently enrolling

This study is completed, as verified in Jan 2022. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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