Irrisept in Emergency General Surgery Patients

Launched by THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS HEALTH SCIENCE CENTER AT TYLER · Jun 29, 2025

Keywords

ClinConnect Summary

This study is testing whether washing out the surgical area with Irrisept (a chlorhexidine antiseptic) during emergency general surgery can lower infections at the wound compared with the usual rinse of normal saline. It’s happening at UT Health Tyler in Tyler, Texas. Adults 18 and older who need an urgent open-style surgery and have a wound that isn’t clean (wound class 2–4) may be invited to participate. The trial randomizes participants to Irrisept or saline, and the patient won’t know which treatment they received (single-blind).

If you join, you’ll receive either Irrisept or normal saline during surgery. Researchers will follow you for up to 30 days to see if you develop a surgical site infection, how long you stay in the hospital, whether you need readmission for SSI, and how the wound condition relates to the irrigation used. The study is FDA-regulated with safety monitoring, and results will be shared after the study finishes (expected completion around 2026). Enrollment is currently by invitation.

Gender

ALL

Eligibility criteria

• Inclusion Criteria:
• • All patients (\>18 years old at time of enrollment) who are hospitalized at UT Tyler and undergo an open (or conversion to open) wound class 2-4 surgical procedure for an emergent surgical condition.
• Exclusion Criteria:
• • Those \<18 years of age
• • Pressure wounds
• • Superficial abscesses (as primary diagnosis)
• • intra-abdominal abscess due to previous technical failure