Preoperative skin antiseptics for prevention of cardiac implantable electronic device infections: a historical-controlled interventional trial comparing aqueous against alcoholic povidone-iodine solutions.

Aims: Local skin antiseptic prevention against cardiac implantable electronic device (CIED) infections is not yet fully understood. This monocentre historical-controlled study sought to (i) conduct a prospective observational analysis comparing two antiseptic skin preparations over two similar consecutive periods of time, one conducted over a 1-year period using an aqueous povidone-iodine solution (Group I) and the other over the following with an alcoholic povidone-iodine solution (Group II); (ii) determine the predictive factors of CIED infection.

Methods And Results: Cardiac implantable electronic device implantation was performed in 1326 patients (pts).