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With respect to antiseptics, what is meant by multiuse vs. single use products?

The FDA distinguishes between the use of a product once (e.g., preparing a patient’s skin prior to making a surgical incision) and repeatedly on the same site over time (e.g., catheter site maintenance).  The reason for this is that while a particular product may not cause irritation or sensitization with a single use, multiple applications over time may lead to these outcomes occurring.

Single vs. multiple use can also refer to a product or container that is used once and discarded or one that contains multiple uses, or can be cleaned and reused.

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