Antisepsis

Antisepsis is the use of antimicrobial substances on living tissue to reduce the risk of infection. It differs from disinfection, which targets pathogens on inanimate objects.

Antiseptic: A chemical substance applied to living tissue to inhibit or kill microorganisms. Antiseptics are the agents that directly produce antisepsis.
Microorganism: An organism or biological entity too small to be seen clearly without magnification. Antisepsis targets microorganisms that can contaminate tissue or contribute to infection.
Ignaz Semmelweis: A Hungarian physician who showed that handwashing with chlorinated lime sharply reduced childbed fever deaths. His handwashing practice anticipated antiseptic infection prevention before germ theory gained acceptance.
Surgical site infection: An infection occurring in the incision or tissues involved in an operation. Preoperative skin antisepsis is used to reduce microbes that can enter surgical wounds.
Sterilization: A process that destroys or removes all forms of microbial life, including bacterial spores. Antisepsis reduces microbes on tissue but cannot reliably achieve sterilization.
Chlorhexidine: A broad-spectrum antiseptic used on skin and mucous membranes. Its persistent activity makes it useful for skin preparation and hand hygiene.
Infection: The invasion and multiplication of microorganisms in a host, which may cause tissue damage or illness. Reducing microbial burden aims to lower the chance that contamination becomes infection.
Joseph Lister: A British surgeon who introduced carbolic acid methods to reduce infection in surgery. Lister developed the best-known early system of antiseptic surgery.
Surgical hand antisepsis: The reduction of transient and resident microorganisms on surgical staff members' hands before an operation. It applies antisepsis to hands before they contact sterile instruments or operative fields.
Aseptic technique: Practices designed to prevent contamination by microorganisms during procedures. Aseptic technique prevents contamination; antisepsis lowers microbes already present on living tissue.

Linked from 10 pages