Chlorhexidine nanoemulsion at 0,25% in the skin antisepsis of cats

Background: The use of peripheral intravenous devices can lead to infections and increase the length of hospital care worldwide in humans and animals. Antisepsis is indicated in several ambulatory and surgical procedures. Chlorhexidine is an antiseptic widely used in veterinary clinical practice. Nanoparticle solutions have been studied to improve antimicrobial effect. Therefore, we aimed to evaluate the antiseptic effect of chlorhexidine nanoemulsion at 0,25% (NM-Cl) in cat skin and to compare it with the chlorhexidine commercial solution at 2.0% (CS-Cl). After a wide trichotomy of the thoracic limbs, the skin antisepsis was performed with NM-Cl or CS-Cl and a catheter was inserted at the cephalic vein. Cutaneous microbiota swab samples (CMSS) were obtained before antisepsis (Tpre), immediately after antisepsis (Tpost), and four, eight, and 24 hours after antisepsis. The samples collected were immediately inoculated in blood agar plates and incubated at 35±2ºC in aerobiosis. The manual counting of the colony-forming unit (CFU) was performed 24 hours after inoculation. Kruskal–Wallis and Mann–Whitney tests were used between groups and inside the same group, at different sample times. Result: The NM-Cl and CS-Cl groups showed a reduction in the CFU between the Tpre and Tpost in all animals (p). Both formulations presented an antiseptic effect 24 hours after antisepsis (p<0.05), and there was no difference between formulations at the different times (p<0.05). Nonetheless, the NM-Cl carried a lowers concentration of chlorhexidine than CS-Cl. Conclusion: The results showed that NM-Cl presents effective antiseptic action and a prolonged residual effect in the cat venipuncture antisepsis. Studies have been carried out to investigate the NM-Cl in veterinary routine.