Journal of AdvancedMedical and Dental Sciences Research

WHICH IS BETTER AGENT FOR PRE-OPERATIVE SKIN PREPARATION? ALCOHOLIC – CHLORHEXIDINE OR POVIDONE – IODINE

Aims & Objectives- To compare the efficacy of povidone-iodine versus alcoholic - chlorhexidine in pre-operative skin preparation. Material & Methods- Prospective study was conducted on patients admitted in surgical wards of Guru Gobind Singh Medical College, Faridkot. A total of 300 patients were studied which were divided into two groups, 150 in each group. In one group A, povidone iodine was used and in group B, alcoholic chlorhexidine was used. Probability value < 0.05 was considered significant. Analysis was performed using the SPSS 20.0 statistical package. Results-The mean age in group A was 46.0 years while in group B was 48.6 years. Majority of cases were females in both groups (73.3% in group A and 72.6% in group B). Post-operative infection on day 3 and on day 10 was more in group A as compared to group B. The mean hospital stay in group A was 9.1 days as compared to 6.5 days in group B. Surgical site infection rate in group A(using Povidone Iodine) was 6.6% while in group B(using Alcoholic Chlorhexidine) it was 3.3%. Conclusions- This study concluded that Alcoholic Chlorhexidine is more efficacious than Povidone Iodine for pre-operative skin preparation and leads to decrease in post-operative surgical site infections and also leads to decrease in average post-operative hospital stay.
Keywords: Alcohol, chlorhexidine, povidone-iodine.

Corresponding Author: Dr. Sachin Khanna, Resident, Department of General Surgery, G.G.S.M.C.H, Faridkot.

This article may be cited as: Khanna S, Kuka AS, Malhotra S, Bansal R, Bhushan B Goyal G. Which is better agent for pre-operative skin preparation? Alcoholic – chlorhexidine or povidone – iodine. J Adv Med Dent Scie Res 2017;5(1):62-66.