The effects of povidone iodine (pH 4.2) on patients with adenoviral conjunctivitis.

Objective: To compare the efficacy of classical treatment and povidone-iodine treatment for adenoviral conjunctivitis.

Methods: This retrospective study was conducted at the Centre of Marmara Eye Health, Sakarya, Turkey, between January 2011 and February 2014, and comprised adult patients suffering from adenoviral conjunctivitis. The participants were randomly divided into two groups. Group I was given povidone-iodine solution while Group II was given the classical treatment and was taken as control. Povidone-iodine treatment was administered as three drops three times per day. The classical treatment comprised three drops of trifluorothymidine three times per day. Treatment were continued for two weeks. The patients who had not recovered in this time frame were defined as 'late recovering' patients. SPSS 23 was used for data analysis.

Results: Of the 112 participants, there were 56(50%) in each group. In Group I, 54(96.4%) patients recovered in two weeks, while 2(3.6%) took more time. In Group II, 33(58.9%) patients recovered in two weeks while 23(41.1%) took more time (p<0.001). Overall, 92(82.1%) patients had familial transmission-contamination.

Conclusions: A new treatment protocol of povidone-iodine was used safely in patients with adenoviral conjunctivitis. Familial transmission was found very important to adenoviral conjunctivitis infection.