NEW ORLEANS (Feb. 29, 2024) – Earlier this month, two LSU Health New Orleans' faculty members, Dr. Robert Zura and Dr. Jessica Rivera, participated in a research study that found cleaning surgical sites with iodine povacrylex and alcohol prior to surgery resulted in fewer post-surgical site infections in closed fractures. 

The study, Skin Antisepsis before Surgical Fixation of Extremity Fractures, published Feb. 1 in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), confronts how to prevent patients from acquiring an infection after orthopedic surgery, depending on if the patient has an open or closed extremity fracture. Thus, the study examined the effects of iodine povacrylex chlorhexidine gluconate as skin antisepsis before surgery to repair a fractured limb.

 “LSU Health New Orleans faculty are committed to innovative research that works to prevent harm, advance treatment and cure diseases,” said LSU Health New Orleans Chancellor, Dr. Steve Nelson. “With less than 5% of submitted research studies earning a place in the New England Journal of Medicine each year, I am extremely proud for our amazing faculty to be part of this published work and the lifesaving discoveries it represents.”

Prior to joining LSU Health New Orleans, Dr. Rivera acted as the local study principal investigator at Brooke Army Medical. She received her M.D. from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center College of Medicine, completed her orthopedic surgical residency at San Antoinio Military Medical Center served 11 years of active-duty military service.

Dr. Zura served on the study’s adjudication committee, reviewing all participating 8,485 patient cases and reviewed and edited the final concept. He received his M.D. from Johns Hopkins University and completed an orthopedic trauma fellowship at the Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, NC. His work is featured in more than 150 peer-reviewed publications.

Every year, NEJM receives more than 5,000 original research reports, each of which are thoroughly evaluated for scientific accuracy and significance by experts in the scientific field. Ultimately, less than 5% of studies submitted to NEJM are published due to the rigorous review process, establishing the Skin Antisepsis before Surgical Fixation of Extremity Fractures as a compelling study.

---

 

About LSU Health New Orleans
LSU Health New Orleans educates Louisiana's health care professionals. The state's health sciences university leader, LSU Health New Orleans includes a School of Medicine with campuses in Baton Rouge and Lafayette, the state's only School of Dentistry, Louisiana's only public School of Public Health, and Schools of Allied Health Professions, Nursing, and Graduate Studies. LSU Health New Orleans faculty take care of patients in hospitals and clinics throughout the region. In the vanguard of biosciences research, the LSU Health New Orleans research enterprise generates jobs and enormous annual economic impact. LSU Health New Orleans faculty have made lifesaving discoveries and continue to work to prevent, advance treatment  and cure disease.