A recent article published in the International Wound Journal evaluated the prophylactic influence of intraoperative wound irrigation in the prevention of surgical site infections. 

This was a meta-analysis that involved a systematic search of existing literature published until January 2022. Overall, 24 studies were included with 4,967 subjects – 1,372 received antibiotic irrigation; 1,261 was given aqueous povidone-iodine irrigation, and 2,334 were given saline irrigation or no irrigation as preventive measures for surgical site infections.

The results of the evaluation of different surgical site infection irrigation modalities revealed that both, antibiotic and povidone-iodine irrigations granted markedly lower surgical site infections in all surgical populations than saline irrigation or no intraoperative irrigation of the surgical site. 

Source: International Wound Journal. 2022 Mar 16. doi: 10.1111/iwj.13794.