Baseline characteristics of patients, lesions and excisions, by treatment group
| Characteristic | Group; no. (%) of patients* | |
|---|---|---|
| Alcoholic chlorhexidine (intervention) n = 454 | Aqueous chlorhexidine (control) n = 462 | |
| Patient | ||
| Age, yr, mean ± SD (range) | 65.1 ± 14.2 (21–91) | 64.8 ± 13.9 (21–101) |
| Sex, male | 266 (58.6) | 251 (54.3) |
| Smoking status | ||
| Current smoker | 33 (7.3) | 39 (8.4) |
| Ex-smoker | 128 (28.2) | 135 (29.2) |
| Never smoked | 293 (64.5) | 288 (62.3) |
| Comorbid conditions | ||
| Any† | 99 (21.8) | 105 (22.7) |
| Diabetes mellitus | 44 (9.7) | 53 (11.5) |
| Ischemic heart disease | 43 (9.5) | 53 (11.5) |
| COPD | 16 (3.5) | 10 (2.2) |
| Medications | ||
| Taking a medication‡ | 131 (28.9) | 128 (27.7) |
| Oral anticoagulant agents | 65 (14.3) | 75 (16.2) |
| Oral antiplatelet agents | 42 (9.3) | 35 (7.6) |
| Oral or inhaled steroids or other immunosuppressant | 39 (8.6) | 30 (6.5) |
| Lesion | ||
| Body site | ||
| Head and neck | 154 (33.9) | 174 (37.7) |
| Trunk | 84 (18.5) | 81 (17.5) |
| Upper limb | 114 (25.1) | 127 (27.5) |
| Lower limb: below knee | 80 (17.6) | 64 (13.9) |
| Lower limb: above knee | 22 (4.8) | 16 (3.5) |
| Histologic findings | ||
| Malignant melanoma | 11 (2.4) | 9 (1.9) |
| Basal cell carcinoma or squamous cell carcinoma | 257 (56.6) | 254 (55.0) |
| Cancerous precursor§ | 69 (15.2) | 77 (16.7) |
| Other lesion | 117 (25.8) | 122 (26.4) |
| Excision | ||
| Type of excision | ||
| Simple | 443 (97.6) | 453 (98.1) |
| Two-layer or flap | 11 (2.4) | 9 (1.9) |
| Suture size | ||
| Thick (2/0 or 3/0) | 277 (61.0) | 269 (58.2) |
| Thin (4/0, 5/0 or 6/0) | 116 (25.6) | 130 (28.1) |
| Multiple | 61 (13.4) | 63 (13.6) |
| Length of excision, mm, median (range) | 25.0 (3–100) | 25.0 (3–100) |
| Time to removal of sutures, d, mean ± SD (range) | 9.69 ± 2.95 (3–19) | 9.73 ± 2.97 (4–21) |
Note: COPD = chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, SD = standard deviation.
↵* Except where indicated otherwise.
↵† Comorbid conditions were diabetes mellitus, peripheral vascular disease, ischemic heart disease, cancer and inflammatory skin disease.
↵‡ Medications were steroids (oral or inhaled), anticoagulants, antiplatelet agents, opioids (oral or cutaneous) and other immunosuppressive medications.
↵§ Cancerous precursors were actinic keratoses and dysplastic nevi.