Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2024 Dec 6:11:1395681.
doi: 10.3389/fsurg.2024.1395681. eCollection 2024.

The effectiveness of waxing or epilation compared to conventional methods of hair removal in reducing the incidence of surgical site infections: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Joseph Cutteridge  1   2 , Pierre Garrido  3 , Tim Staniland  4 , Arthur Lim  2 , Joshua Totty  5 , Ross Lathan  1   2 , George Smith  2   5 , Ian Chetter  2   5
Affiliations

The effectiveness of waxing or epilation compared to conventional methods of hair removal in reducing the incidence of surgical site infections: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Joseph Cutteridge et al. Front Surg. .

Abstract

Background: Surgical site infections (SSIs) pose a significant challenge to healthcare systems by elevating patient morbidity and mortality and driving up financial costs. Preoperative skin preparation is crucial for preventing SSIs; however, certain traditional methods of hair removal have been found to increase the risk of SSI development. Mechanical epilation and waxing constitute two relatively explored methods of hair removal, which may hold potential to accelerate wound healing due to the activation of stem cells within hair follicles. This review assesses the efficacy of preoperative hair removal via waxing and mechanical epilation in reducing SSI incidence.

Methods: This systematic review was prospectively registered with PROSPERO (ref: CRD42023423798) and a protocol previously published in a peer-reviewed journal. All findings are reported according to PRISMA guidelines. A comprehensive search of Medline, Embase, CENTRAL, ClinicalTrials.gov and CINAHL. Inclusion criteria encompassed adult patients undergoing any surgical procedure, comparing waxing or epilation against other hair removal methods or no hair removal, with SSI incidence as the primary outcome. There was no restriction on study size or quality to ensure a comprehensive literature evaluation.

Results: The review found no studies meeting the selection criteria out of 576 records screened.

Discussion/conclusion: This review has identified no literature regarding the use of waxing and mechanical epilation as methods of preoperative hair removal. The lack of experimental evidence combined with the potential physiological advantages of these techniques indicate that this could be a valuable area of future research. These techniques may represent novel approaches to SSI prevention, particularly beneficial in high-risk surgical disciplines like vascular surgery.

Systematic review registration: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?RecordID=423798, PROSPERO (CRD42023423798).

Keywords: epilation; hair removal; surgical site infection; systematic review; waxing.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
PRISMA flow chart.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Totty JP, Moss JWE, Barker E, Mealing SJ, Posnett JW, Chetter IC, et al. The impact of surgical site infection on hospitalisation, treatment costs, and health-related quality of life after vascular surgery. Int Wound J. (2021) 18:261–8. 10.1111/iwj.13526 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. CDC. Surgical site infection event (SSI) (2024). Available online at: https://www.cdc.gov/nhsn/pdfs/pscmanual/9pscssicurrent.pdf (accessed March 01, 2024).
    1. Pherson MJ, Strassle PD, Aucoin VJ, Kalbaugh CA, McGinigle KL. Surgical site infection after open lower extremity revascularization associated with doubled rate of major limb amputation. J Vasc Surg. (2022) 76:1014–20. 10.1016/j.jvs.2022.04.040 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Seidelman JL, Mantyh CR, Anderson DJ. Surgical site infection prevention: a review. JAMA. (2023) 329:244–52. 10.1001/jama.2022.24075 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Totty JP, Harwood AE, Wallace T, Smith GE, Chetter IC. Use of photograph-based telemedicine in postoperative wound assessment to diagnose or exclude surgical site infection. J Wound Care. (2018) 27:128–35. 10.12968/jowc.2018.27.3.128 - DOI - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources