Topical antiseptics in addition to peroperative antibiotics in preventing post-appendicectomy wound infections.

The effect of using topical povidone-iodine spray in addition to a single dose of intravenous metronidazole was studied in a clinical trial involving 200 patients undergoing appendicectomy. Despite the metronidazole, patients with perforated or gangrenous appendices still had an unacceptably high rate of wound infection. Overall, no benefit resulted from the addition of the povidone-iodine spray.

Ascorbic acid for the common cold. A prophylactic and therapeutic trial.

Three hundred eleven employees of the National Institutes of Health volunteered to take 1 gm of ascorbic acid or lactose placebo in capsules three times a day for nine months. At the onset of a cold, the volunteers were given an additional 3 gm daily of either a placebo or ascorbic acid. One hundred ninety volunteers completed the study.