Researchers at New York University Hospital Center in New York City found 86 percent of patients correctly applied a nasal ointment for S. aureus colonization treatment for five days prior to surgery as had been prescribed. So they conducted a randomized trial comparing SSI rates in patients using chlorhexidine wipes in combination with either a twice daily application of nasal mupirocin ointment for five days prior to surgery or two applications of povidone-iodine solution in each nostril within two hours of surgery.
At the end of the study, an SSI developed after 14 of 855 surgical procedures in the first group while just six developed out of 842 procedures in the second group. More specifically, S. aureus SSI developed after five procedures in the first group, and just one S. aureus SSI developed in the second group.
“Nasal povidone-iodine may be considered as an alternative to mupirocin in a multifaceted approach to reduce SSI,” the researchers concluded.
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