According to the latest edition of the Archive of Surgery, a basic bedside technique of gently probing a surgical incision to clean the area can result in significantly reduced rates of infection, Internal Medicine News reports.

According to the report, over a three year period, researchers assessed surgical site infections in 76 adults who underwent appendectomy for perforated appendicitis at one hospital. Only 3% of the patients who received the gentle probing contracted an infection, while 19% contracted infection in the control group. In addition, those patients who received the probing technique had their length of stay reduced.

 Visit the AHAP blog to read more.