Clinical evaluation of preoperative skin preparation with aqueous povidone-iodine alone and in combination with alcoholic chlorhexidine in patients undergoing elective surgery

Abstract

Introduction: Adequate pre-operative skin preparation helps in reducing the SSIs and this study is undertaken to compare the efficacy of povidone-iodine alone and in combination with chlorhexidine. Aims and Objectives: To evaluate the efficacy of povidone-iodine alone and in combination with an antiseptic agent containing alcoholic chlorhexidine on preoperative skin preparation. Methodology: This is an observational study in which 100 patients admitted for elective clean surgery in Dr. PSIMS & RF during the period of 2 years from November 2019 – October 2021 studied in two groups where preoperative skin preparation is done using povidone-iodine alone and in combination with alcoholic chlorhexidine. Results and Conclusion: There are 5 patients in group-1 and 1 in group-2 who has positive culture after skin disinfection. There were 5 cases in group-1 and 1 in group-2 who developed SSIs. This study show that chlorhexidine followed by povidone-iodine is effective when compared with povidone-iodine alone.