Bone wax as a risk factor for surgical-site infection following neurospinal surgery

Surgical-site infection occurred in 6 of 42 neurospinal cases in which bone wax was used and in 1 of 72 cases in which it was not used during a 3-month period (P < .01). Increased risk of infection should be considered when using bone wax as a hemo-static agent (Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2004;25:346-348.)