Primary studies and systematic reviews evaluating chlorhexidine-containing antiseptics for the prevention of blood culture contamination.

ALC, alcohol (when alcohol type not known); aq, aqueous; CHG, chlorhexidine gluconate; ETH, ethanol; IPA, isopropanol; IT, iodine tincture; PVI, povidone iodine; RCT, randomised clinical trial; seq, sequential application; vs, versus; ?%, percentage not specified; > (in systematic reviews), performing better than.
aAnnotation with (M) or (C) denotes whether original studies were included in the systematic reviews of Malani et al [25] (M) or Caldeira et al [26] (C).
bA, B, and C denote different study arms.
cOutcome: number of contaminated blood cultures per cultures obtained in each study arm. Significance is indicated either by NS (not significant) or p<0.05 (when significant).
dAttribution: assesses whether study outcomes derived from alcohol plus CHG were attributed to CHG alone by authors.
eIn this trial, all subjects received both antiseptics at the same time, outcomes were assessed blindly.
fThese studies were classified as non-randomised cluster cross-over trials. Some had been conducted by prospective sequential implementation of different antiseptic regimens in clinical units [18], [20], [21], some by retrospective comparison of antiseptic regimens [11], [19], [23].
gThis study had complex outcomes from several pre- and post-intervention intervals showing that rigorous training and application may be more important than the choice of antiseptic.