Aseptic versus clean technique during wound management? Systematic review with meta-analysis

Area of Science:

• Wound Management
• Infection Control
• Evidence-Based Practice

Background:

• Aseptic technique is standard for wound management.
• Clean techniques, using non-sterile materials, offer an alternative with minimized infection risk.
• This review compares the efficacy and safety of clean versus aseptic wound dressing techniques.

Approach:

• A systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted.
• Nine studies met the inclusion criteria for the analysis.
• The overall risk of bias across studies was assessed as low.

Key Points:

• The relative risk of infection for clean dressings versus aseptic dressings was 0.86 (95% CI 0.67, 1.12).
• Limited statistical heterogeneity was observed, but confidence intervals were wide due to a low number of infections.
• The 95% prediction interval for future studies was 0.63–1.18, indicating no significant difference.

Conclusions:

• There is no evidence to suggest that clean techniques are inferior to aseptic methods for wound management.
• Further laboratory simulations are advised to assess pathogen transmission risks before clinical trials involving high-risk procedures.