Efficacy comparison of chlorhexidine and iodine preparation in reduction of surgical site infection: A systemic review and meta-analysis

Background: Chlorhexidine and povidone-iodine are the most common disinfectants used in preoperative skin preparation. However, there is no consistent conclusion regarding the prevention of surgical site infection (SSI) and bacterial culture data. Objective: To assess the efficacy of chlorhexidine and povidone-iodine in the prevention of postoperative SSI and relevant bacterial data. Design: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Settings: N/A Participants: N/A Method: Literature relevant to skin antisepsis and surgical site infections was retrieved from PUBMED, Web of Science, EMBASE, CINHAL and CNKI. The incidence of SSI was the primary outcome, while the secondary outcome was bacterial data from the infected incision. All data were analyzed with Revman 5.3 and Stata Statistical Software. Results: A total of 36 studies were identified in this study, which included 16,872 participants. This study revealed that chlorhexidine is superior to povidone-iodine in the prevention of postoperative SSI (risk ratio [RR], 0.73; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.61-0.87; p = 0.019, I 2 = 39%). Further meta-regression analysis revealed that the effect of chlorhexidine was directly associated with the type of incision, but failed to differentiate between the subgroups divided according to the type of incision. With respect to bacteria colonization, the most common bacteria for chlorhexidine arm were propionibacterium's, while the most common bacteria for the iodine arm were staphylococci species. Conclusion: In comparison to povidone-iodine, chlorhexidine showed better results in preventing postop-erative SSI. (c) 2021 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Automated summary

This study conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate the efficacy of chlorhexidine and povidone-iodine in preventing postoperative surgical site infections (SSI) and relevant bacterial data. The results indicated that chlorhexidine was more effective than povidone-iodine in preventing SSI, and the two disinfectants had different effects on bacterial colonization depending on the type of incision.