EFFICIENCY OF METHODS FOR PREOPERATIVE VA GINAL ANTISEPSIS

In a prospective clinical study we investigated 115 patients prior to vaginal surgical interventions to determine the antimicrobial efficacy of six different procedures for vaginal antisepsis. To sample the mic roorganisms we used a cotton swab moistened with a neutralising fluid. Immediately after the time of action of the antiseptic procedures (3 minutes), providone-iodine solution, applied undiluted or diluted 1:10 , yielded the strongest median reduction of the vaginal flora (log RF 3.60 and 2.68, respectively). Of three detergents with antiseptic effi cacy, octenidine 0.1% was the most efficient formula (log RF 2.32). Af ter 30 minutes the log reduction factors (log RF) of almost all proced ures (log RF 2.79-3.25) were in a fairly close range, excepting chloro hexidine 0.05% (log RF 2.07). Overall, the antiseptic detergents showe d a marked residual effect, which was less pronounced, if at all, with povidone-iodine solutions. A germ-reducing effect of povidone-iodine vaginal suppositories, applied 2 to 3 hrs prior to surgery, was not co nfirmed, while additional findings indicated that providone-iodine sol ution applied with the help of a vaginal douche yields a similarly str ong germ reduction as the application by means of ball swabs.