Summary of findings 6. Hair removal the day before surgery compared with hair removal on the day of surgery for participants undergoing surgery.
| Hair removal the day before surgery compared with hair removal on the day of surgery for participants undergoing surgery | ||||||
| Patient or population: people undergoing surgery Setting: hospitals Intervention: hair removal the day before surgery Comparison: hair removal on the day of surgery | ||||||
| Outcomes | Anticipated absolute effects* (95% CI) | Relative effect (95% CI) | № of participants (studies) | Certainty of the evidence (GRADE) | Comments | |
| Risk with hair removal on the day of surgery | Risk with hair removal the day before surgery | |||||
| Surgical site infection (SSIs) assessed with: proportion of SSIs follow‐up: 30 days | Study population | RR 0.83 (0.54 to 1.30) | 977 (1 RCT) | ⊕⊕⊝⊝ Low 1,2 | The findings from 1 study suggest there may be a small reduction in SSI if hair is removed on the day of surgery compared with hair removal on the day before surgery. | |
| 69 per 1000 | 12 fewer SSIs per 1000 (32 fewer to 20 more) | |||||
| Wound complications | No data were reported for this outcome. | |||||
| Length of stay follow‐up: 30 days | No data were reported for this outcome. | |||||
| Cost follow‐up: 30 days | 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 imprecision due to low event numbers and wide confidence intervals.
2 Downgraded due to inconsistency in the types of hair removal used.