ABSTRACT
Before surgical procedures are performed, it is standard that the proposed operative site be prepared with an effective antimicrobial to reduce the microbial populations residing on the skin and, thereby, the potential for surgery-associated infection. Povidone iodine and chlorhexidine gluconate (CHG) have been the two most prevalent antimicrobial choices for preoperative patient skin preparation over the years. In efficacy trials using human volunteers whose baseline counts exceed 105 microorganisms/cm2 on moist skin sites, both antimicrobial products commonly demonstrate at least a 3 log10 reduction in resident skin flora within 10 minutes of skin preparation [1]. When a formulation contains at least 60% alcohol, these reductions are observed within seconds.
