Comparison of chlorhexidine with povidone - iodine solution for skin disinfection in epidural and central venoues catheter insertion

Background: Chlorhexidine and povidone – iodine solution are both well-known skin disinfectants. In this study we have compared the efficacy of chlorhexidine against povidone – iodine solution. Methods: 100 patients undergoing elective surgeries were divided into 2 groups of 50 each. Group CHD was cleansed with chlorhexidine gluconate 2% in 80% alcohol and group PV-I group was treated with 10% aqueous solution of povidone iodine. Two swabs were taken from the site of surgery, one before skin disinfection and one after and sent to the microbiology lab where they were cultured on Mac Conkey and Blood Agar and the magnitude of growth was reported. Results: The demographic details of both the groups were similar. 19 patients and 13 patients in the CHD and PV-I groups had growth prior to disinfection, while after disinfection, there was no bacterial growth in any of the patients in CHD group and 2 patients had poor growth in PV-I group. Conclusions: Though both the disinfectants were very effective, CHD was slightly better than PV-I. The cost and side effects were similar in both the cases. Since the drying time of CHD was faster than that of PV-I, CHD was a better choice, especially in emergency cases.