Final answer:
Surgical handscrubbing is a degermation process that aims to reduce microbial numbers on the skin before surgery to prevent infection, differing from routine handwashing in its thoroughness and the area covered.
Step-by-step explanation:
Surgical handscrubbing is an important procedure performed by healthcare workers to reduce the number of microbes on the skin before a surgical procedure. This process is an example of degermation, which significantly reduces microbial numbers on living tissue through the use of a mild chemical such as soap. The purpose of degerming is not to completely eliminate microbes but to remove most of them from the skin's surface. Surgical handscrubbing differs from routine handwashing in its thoroughness and the extent of the area scrubbed, which includes the fingertips up to the forearms and beyond the elbows.
It is important to distinguish between degermation, sanitization, disinfection, and sterilization. Sanitization refers to the cleansing of fomites to achieve safe levels of microbes for public health, often using high temperatures. Disinfection targets the reduction or killing of microbes on inanimate surfaces using chemical disinfectants. Sterilization, on the other hand, aims to achieve the complete removal or killing of all vegetative cells, endospores, and viruses from the targeted item or environment and is often reserved for settings where items must be completely free of potentially infectious agents.
Historically, handwashing and extreme cleanliness during surgery were advocated by British surgeon Joseph Lister, who, influenced by the work of Semmelweis and Pasteur, introduced the use of a carbolic acid spray to decrease the incidence of postsurgical wound infections.