Comparative clinical effectiveness of preoperative skin antiseptic preparations of chlorhexidine gluconate and povidone iodine for preventing surgical site infections in dogs

Contamination of surgical sites often resulting from inadequate surgical site preparation and poor asepsis is a common cause of surgical site infection (SSI) and postoperative complications. Standard practice ensuring preoperative skin disinfection helps to prevent the incidence of SSI. The choice of antiseptic therefore poses a serious counterbalance for the surgeon. This study was carried out to determine whether skin asepsis immediately prior to surgical site incision will reduce skin microbial burden that may potentiate the incidence of SSI and to compare the clinical effectiveness of chlorhexidine gluconate B.P 0.3%W/V, Cetrimide B.P 3.05 W/V (CG + Cetrimide) against povidone iodine 10% (PI) in pre-surgical skin preparation and asepsis in dogs. A total of 15 dogs were used for the study. Both side of each dog was used for the study, right side for CG + Certrimide and left side for PI; (n = 30). Aseptic agents’ chlorhexidine gluconate 0.3% and Cetrimide 3.0% and povidine iodine 10% were used as pre surgical scrub solutions prior to surgery. Swab samples were evaluated before scrubbing, 0, 30, 60 and 90 min after scrubbing. Percent reductions of bacterial colony forming units were determined for all site scrub techniques. Mixed-design ANOVA results revealed significant difference (P < 0.05) within groups and no significant difference (P > 0.05) in the disinfectant effects between groups treated with CG + Cetrimide and povidone iodine respectively across the various time periods. Changes in the mean bacteria count were observed to be equivalent using CG + Cetrimide and povidone iodine. It was concluded that there was no significant difference between CG + Cetrimide and PI in preoperative surgical skin preparations.