A trial of povidone-iodine for prevention of contamination of intravenous cannulae.

A prospective randomized study of 227 intravenous cannulae was undertaken to evaluate the effects of two different skin disinfectants before intravenous cannulation. Patients were divided into two groups. In one povidone-iodine was used as disinfectant while in the other 70% isopropylalcohol was used. Intraluminal contamination rates, colony counts and organisms isolated are presented. We found no correlation between use of cannulae sideport and contamination. It was found that povidone-iodine as a skin disinfectant reduced the intraluminal contamination from 22 to 7.25% (P less than 0.01).