Efficacy and dermal tolerance of a novel alcohol-based skin antiseptic in horses.

The research explores the effectiveness and skin tolerance of a new alcohol-based skin antiseptic (ABSA) in horses. The study found that this ABSA was as efficient and well-accepted on the horses’ skin as the standard antiseptic method, with the added benefit of requiring less time.

Methodology

• The study involved 25 healthy horses with no history or signs of skin disease. It was an experimental study conducted to testt the efficacy and tolerability of a new ABSA on the skin of these horses.
• Four cleaned sites on each horse’s abdomen were randomly chosen and subjected to various skin preparation protocols. These procedures included Saline (negative control), Chlorhexidine Gluconate followed by Isopropyl Alcohol (positive control), Saline with ABSA, and a commercially available horse shampoo followed by ABSA.
• Microbiological swabs were taken from each site and cultured in a lab. The number of Colony Forming Units was noted after 18 to 24 hours.
• Each of these sites was inspected for signs of skin reaction at different intervals after skin preparation, including immediately after, after one hour, and after 24 hours.

Results

• The study found that the skin microbial burden was reduced after using ABSA, similar to the positive control method, indicating the efficacy of the ABSA as compared to the conventional antiseptic methods.
• The time required for the ABSA-based preparation was the same, irrespective of whether it was preceded with saline or shampoo. However, both were faster than the positive control method, thus suggesting ABSA’s time efficiency benefit.
• Although skin reactions were observed 24 hours after preparation in some cases, there was no significant correlation with the type of antiseptic used. Moreover, none of the horses required veterinary treatment, implying good skin tolerance of the ABSA.

Conclusions

• The study concluded that the ABSA tested bear comparison with the commonly used Chlorhexidine Gluconate-based method in terms of its antiseptic effectiveness and dermal tolerance, with the added advantage of needing less preparation time.
• The ABSA examined in this study thus stands as an efficacious, fast-acting, and easily tolerated alternative for achieving skin antisepsis in healthy horses.
• This finding justifies the need for more focused investigations to further explore the potential benefits of ABSA in clinical use cases.