Can a Targeted Dissemination Strategy of the PREPARE Trial Results Change Surgical Antiseptic Practice?

The PREPARE trial (Pragmatic Randomized trial Evaluating Pre-operative Alcohol skin solutions in Fractured Extremities), published in February 2024, demonstrated that 0.7% iodine povacrylex in 74% isopropyl alcohol reduced surgical site infections in patients with closed fractures compared with chlorhexidine gluconate in 70% isopropyl alcohol. Prior studies have shown that the translation of clinical trial findings into routine clinical practice and surgical procedures frequently takes longer than a decade, and strategies to accelerate implementation in orthopaedic surgery remain poorly defined. Engaging in a multifaceted implementation strategy with minimal barriers to entry for providers may be able to reduce this time to widespread adoption.

(1) Can the low-cost single-center dissemination efforts of the PREPARE trial results change antiseptic usage? (2) If a true practice change occurs, can the change be sustained over time without additional dissemination efforts? (3) Does the adoption of new evidence vary between fellowship-trained orthopaedic trauma surgeons and orthopaedic trauma surgeons who are not fellowship-trained? (4) What is the economic impact of a practice change to iodine povacrylex on hospital purchasing costs?

This was a retrospective, historically controlled comparative study of patients who underwent operative treatment of an extremity fracture at a single, urban, Level I academic trauma center before and after a dissemination effort aimed at increasing PREPARE trial awareness. A multifaceted dissemination strategy consisting of surgeon and nursing education, posted reminders, and supply chain support was implemented at the study site in February 2024. Patients were analyzed across three time periods: before dissemination (January 2020 to January 2024), during the transition (February 2024), and after dissemination (March 2024 to July 2025). An electronic medical record query identified patients with operative fracture management procedural codes who had a recorded antiseptic skin prep in the surgical flow sheet between January 2020 and July 2025. A total of 4822 patients were identified, and 222 duplicate entries were excluded, leaving 4600 patients for analysis (3351 before dissemination, 49 transitional, and 1200 after dissemination). To validate the completeness of our electronic health record query, we performed manual random sampling of monthly operative case logs, confirming that this query strategy successfully identified all patients with the relevant Current Procedural Terminology codes (that is, there were no exclusions for lack of antiseptic documentation). There were no differences in patient demographics, including sex, ethnicity, open fractures, or the distribution of upper and lower extremity fractures. Choice of surgical skin antiseptic was compared before and after dissemination using a log-binomial model.

Dissemination efforts changed antiseptic use patterns with an immediate increase in iodine povacrylex use from 0.8% (27 of 3351) before intervention to 86% (1033 of 1200) after intervention (OR 765 [95% confidence interval 488 to 1197]; p < 0.001). This high level of use remained stable throughout the 17-month postintervention period without any additional dissemination efforts (p = 0.20 for trend). Adoption was higher among fellowship-trained trauma surgeons (94.8% increase) compared with surgeons without trauma fellowship training (34.7% increase). Hospital antiseptic product purchasing data, which reflect usage and restocking and were used as a secondary metric of practice change, also demonstrated an increase in iodine povacrylex demand and decline in chlorhexidine demand.

A targeted and multifaceted dissemination strategy led to rapid adoption of iodine povacrylex for use as the preferred surgical skin antisepsis in fracture surgery at our institution, which was sustained over the 17-month postintervention period. This finding contrasts with a historically slow uptake of surgical trial evidence into clinical practice. Pragmatic, low-cost approaches such as surgeon leadership, team-based multidisciplinary education, workflow reminders, and supply chain readiness may help to accelerate translation of evidence into orthopaedic practice. Future studies should evaluate the long-term sustainability of practice changes, surgical site infection outcomes, and generalizability across institutions.

Level III, therapeutic study.