Use of electrocautery does not diminish the transmission rate of Cutibacterium acnes compared to a scalpel blade

L Fielding Callaway; Parth N Desai; Samantha N Mattox; K Aaron Shaw; Allison R McMullen; Stephen A Parada

doi:10.1016/j.jor.2019.11.023

Use of electrocautery does not diminish the transmission rate of Cutibacterium acnes compared to a scalpel blade

J Orthop. 2019 Nov 27:19:162-165. doi: 10.1016/j.jor.2019.11.023. eCollection 2020 May-Jun.

Authors

L Fielding Callaway¹, Parth N Desai², Samantha N Mattox³, K Aaron Shaw⁴, Allison R McMullen³, Stephen A Parada¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Orthopaedics, Augusta University Medical Center, Augusta, GA, USA.
² Mercer University School of Medicine, Columbus, GA, USA.
³ Department of Pathology, Augusta University Medical Center, Augusta, GA, USA.
⁴ Eisenhower Army Medical Center, Ft. Gordon, GA, USA.

Abstract

Many methods are used during shoulder surgery to prevent wound contamination with Cutibacterium acnes, but there are no accepted standards for prevention. Some surgeons use an electrosurgical instrument instead of a scalpel blade during open shoulder surgery in an effort to prevent deep tissue contamination with C. acnes. We sought to compare the transference rate of C. acnes between a scalpel blade at room temperature and an electrosurgical blade heated to 41°C (temperature of electrosurgical blade after standard deltopectoral approach). In our model, using a scalpel blade versus a heated electrosurgical blade resulted in no difference in pathogen transference.

Keywords: Cutibacterium acnes; Pathogen transmission; Prevention; Shoulder infection.