Preoperative vaginal preparations for abdominal hysterectomy for the prevention of febrile morbidity: savlon douching vs povidone-iodine painting.

Objective: To compare the effectiveness between savlon solution was douching and povidone-iodine solution painting for reducing febrile morbidity after total abdominal hysterectomy.

Study Design: Clinical trial.

Material And Method: One hundred and fifty patients at Srinagarind Hospital were scheduled for total abdominal hysterectomy (TAH). All subjects were non-randomly allocated to receive either savlon (1:1000 solutions) douching or povidone-iodine (1% solution) painting as pre-operative vaginal preparations. They also received Cefazolin 1 gm. intravenously before the operation. The principal outcome of the study was febrile morbidity.

Results: The overall rate of febrile morbidity was 21 percent. The incidence of febrile morbidity in the savlon vs. povidone-iodine groups was 16 (12/75) and 25 (19/75) percent, respectively. No statistically significant difference was found between the two groups (p-value = 0.16). The odds ratio was 1.78 (95%CI 0.79 to 3.99) and adjusted odds ratio was 2.09(95%CI 0.86 to 5.10) CONCLUSION: The effectiveness between savlon solution douching and povidone-iodine solution painting in conjunction with a prophylactic antibiotic before TAH for reducing febrile morbidity was not significant different.