Povidone-iodine spray technique versus traditional scrub-paint technique for preoperative abdominal wall preparation

OBJECTIVE: The study was conducted to compare povidone-iodine spray and traditional scrub-paint techniques in reducing abdominal wall bacteria during preoperative preparation. STUDY DESIGN: Sixty patients scheduled to undergo vaginal surgery were recruited for study. Cultures of the abdominal skin were performed before and after preparation with two techniques: a traditional 5-minute iodophor soap scrub-paint on one half and povidone-iodine aqueous spray on the other. Multiple pairwise comparisons were performed with the Wilcoxon signed rank test. A P value of .05 was considered statistically significant in all analyses. RESULTS: The mean number of colonies for spray after 1 minute was 1.83 +/- 3.16, for spray after 3 minutes was 0.40 +/- 1.15, and after 5-minute scrub was 0.87 +/- 2.97. Both techniques, the spray after 3 minutes and the 5-minute scrub, were statistically more effective at reducing bacterial counts than the spray after 1 minute. There was no statistically significant difference between the spray after 3 minutes and the scrub techniques. CONCLUSION: Povidone-iodine applied as a spray and left to dry for 3 minutes appears as effective as the traditional scrub-paint technique in reducing abdominal wall bacteria before abdominal surgery.