Does wearing facemasks during small animal surgery reduce the incidence of surgical site infections?

Abstract

Question In small animals undergoing theatre-based surgical procedures does having all theatre personnel masked, compared with not having all theatre personnel masked, result in a reduced incidence of surgical site infections? Clinical bottom line The category of research question was: Incidence. The number and type of study designs that were critically appraised were: Zero. No records relevant to the PICO question were retrieved from the literature search. Critical appraisal of the selected papers meeting the inclusion criteria collectively provide zero/weak/moderate/strong evidence in terms of their experimental design and implementation: Zero. The outcomes reported are summarised as follows… There is no published evidence specific to small animals that assesses the effect of wearing facemasks during surgical procedures on the rate of postoperative surgical site infections. In view of the strength of evidence and the outcomes from the studies the following conclusion is made… In small animals undergoing theatre-based surgical procedures, there is no published evidence evaluating the effect of having all theatre personnel masked compared with not having all theatre personnel masked on the incidence of surgical site infections. However, this lack of evidence should not be interpreted as lack of efficacy.