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The correct application of antiseptics to major surgical wounds must comply with appropriate protocols. Compliance with the protocol established by the CHRU of Nancy was evaluated by means of a questionnaire assessing the understanding of the protocol by the nursing staff and by a survey in the wards in which it was applied. The defects observed cannot be explained by a lack of efficacy for superficial wounds and deep wounds, as a randomised study of 42 wounds demonstrated the superiority of the protocol in relation to the use of another product which is widely used in the wards. In contrast, for deep wounds with loss of substance, the proposed protocol does not always achieve therapeutic success. This finding has led the authors to propose the use of a 3% boric acid solution based on a case-control study which demonstrated a significantly superior efficacy. All of the epidemiological and clinical elements are summarised in order to demonstrate the solid basis for compliance with antiseptic protocols of surgical wounds which can only be beneficial in terms of therapeutic success, length of hospital stay and cost savings.

10 mul of a 2% boric acid solution are injected in chick embryos at 28 hours of incubation. The nervous system is always affected in its anterior and middle region, with exencephaly and reduction in size of the neural tube. Microphtalmy is frequent. The posterior limbs can be likewise altered, leading sometimes to symelia. The histological study shows furthermore that the notochord is locally hypertrophic or missing, at the same level where the nervous system is altered.