El. Eason et al., POVIDONE-IODINE GEL VAGINAL ANTISEPSIS FOR ABDOMINAL HYSTERECTOMY, American journal of obstetrics and gynecology, 176(5), 1997, pp. 1011-1016
OBJECTIVE: Our goal was to assess the safety and effectiveness of vagi
nal povidone-iodine gel in reducing febrile morbidity after abdominal
hysterectomy. STUDY DESIGN: This cohort study included 158 women treat
ed with gel immediately before hysterectomy, after the usual surgical
preparation, and 317 historic control subjects with the usual surgical
preparation only, at two teaching hospitals. Febrile morbidity was as
sessed by a blinded review of temperature records and was analyzed by
Fisher's exact test and multiple logistic regression. RESULTS: Febrile
morbidity occurred in 17% of gel-treated patients and 26% of controls
(adjusted odds ratio 0.52, 95% confidence interval 0.31 to 0.89). In
patients receiving prophylactic antibiotics the adjusted odds ratio fo
r febrile morbidity in gel-treated patients was 0.47 (95% confidence i
nterval 0.27 to 0.83). Prolonged fever occurred in 17% of controls and
10% of gel-treated patients (adjusted odds ratio 0.52, 95% confidence
interval 0.28 to 0.97). CONCLUSION: Preoperative vaginal povidone-iod
ine gel is a safe and promising technique for reducing febrile morbidi
ty after hysterectomy.