Summary of findings 4. Shaving compared with clipping for participants undergoing surgery.
| Shaving with a razor compared with clipping for participants undergoing surgery | ||||||
| Patient or population: people undergoing surgery Setting: hospital Intervention: shaving Comparison: clipping | ||||||
| Outcomes | Anticipated absolute effects* (95% CI) | Relative effect (95% CI) | № of participants (studies) | Certainty of the evidence (GRADE) | Comments | |
| Risk with clipping | Risk with shaving | |||||
| Surgical site infection (SSI) assessed with: proportion of SSIs follow‐up: range 2 weeks to 3 months | Study population | RR 1.64 (1.16 to 2.33) | 3723 (7 RCTs) | ⊕⊕⊕⊝ Moderate1 | Pooled meta‐analysis suggests the risk of SSI is probably lower in people who have hair removed with clippers than in those who have hair removed with a razor. | |
| 25 per 1000 | 16 more SSIs per 1000 (4 more to 33 more) | |||||
| Wound complications follow‐up: range 2 weeks to 1 month | Study population | RR 1.74 (1.12 to 2.71) | 1333 (3 RCTs) | ⊕⊕⊕⊝ Moderate 2 | Pooled meta‐analysis suggests the risk of skin injury is probably lower in people who have hair removed from their body with clippers rather than with razors. | |
| 44 per 1000 | 33 more complications per 1000 (5 more to 75 more) | |||||
| Length of stay follow‐up: 1 month | No data were reported for this outcome. | |||||
| Cost follow‐up: 1 month | No data were reported for this outcome. | |||||
| *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 one level for serious risk of bias, as one large study was quasi‐randomised. 2Downgraded one level for serious imprecision due to wide confidence intervals.