[Experimental and clinical studies of the efficacy of an antimicrobial incision drape].

The antibacterial activity of an antimicrobial incise drape containing povidone-iodine was compared to a normal drape by experimental and clinical investigations. In vitro, no difference in the survival rate of six bacterial species depending on the kind of the drape, could be demonstrated. Clinical studies by contact cultures, postoperatively taken from the skin after removal of the drape, yielded no significant difference in the recolonisation of the skin during the operations. The importance of the preoperative, antimicrobial preparations of the skin is discussed.