Summary of findings 3. Depilatory cream compared with no hair removal for participants undergoing surgery.
| Depilatory cream compared with no hair removal for participants undergoing surgery | ||||||
| Patient or population: people undergoing surgery Setting: hospital Intervention: depilatory cream Comparison: no hair removal | ||||||
| Outcomes | Anticipated absolute effects* (95% CI) | Relative effect (95% CI) | № of participants (studies) | Certainty of the evidence (GRADE) | Comments | |
| Risk with no hair removal | Risk with depilatory cream | |||||
| Surgical site infection (SSI) assessed with: proportion of SSIs follow‐up: mean 1 month | Study population | RR 1.02 (0.45 to 2.31) | 267 (1 RCT) | ⊕⊕⊝⊝ Low 1 | There may be little difference in SSIs when hair is removed with depilatory cream versus no hair removal. | |
| 78 per 1000 | 2 more SSIs per 1000 (43 fewer to 102 more) | |||||
| Wound complications | No data were reported for this outcome. | |||||
| Length of stay | No data were reported for this outcome. | |||||
| Cost follow‐up: 1 month | 1 trial estimated the cost of providing depilatory cream for 100 people was GBP 22. | ‐ | 267 (1 RCT) | ⊕⊝⊝⊝ Very low 2 | It is uncertain whether there is a difference in cost between people who have had hair removed using depilatory cream and people who have had no hair removed. | |
| *The risk in the intervention group (and its 95% confidence interval) is based on the assumed risk in the comparison group and the relative effect of the intervention (and its 95% CI). CI: confidence interval; RCT: randomised controlled trial; RR: risk ratio | ||||||
| GRADE Working Group grades of evidence High certainty: We are very confident that the true effect lies close to that of the estimate of the effect. Moderate certainty: We are moderately confident in the effect estimate: the true effect is likely to be close to the estimate of the effect, but there is a possibility that it is substantially different. Low certainty: Our confidence in the effect estimate is limited: the true effect may be substantially different from the estimate of the effect. Very low certainty: We have very little confidence in the effect estimate: the true effect is likely to be substantially different from the estimate of effect. | ||||||
1Downgraded two levels for very serious imprecision due to small sample size and wide confidence interval. 2Downgraded one level for serious imprecision due to small sample size and two levels for very serious indirectness, as only one aspect of treatment costs was assessed.