Publication:

Incidence of post-operative (caesarean section) infectious morbidities in cleansing and non-cleansing group after povidone iodine vaginal cleaning

Background Despite of wide spread use of prophylactic antibiotics and various antiseptic measures, post-operative infection remains one of the significant and serious complication of caesarean delivery contributing to high maternal morbidity and mortality. Objective was to study the incidence of post-operative infectious morbidities in patients with/without povidone iodine vaginal cleansing done prior to caesarean section.

Methods A prospective randomized control study was done in the department of obstetrics and gynecology of Dr. Baba Saheb Ambedkar Medical College and Hospital, New Delhi.

Results Mean age of participants in group A is 26.22±2.47 years and in group B is 26.48±2.3 years. Majority women (84.0%) underwent emergency lower segment caesarean section (LSCS). (6.4%) women developed post-operative endometritis, out of which maximum (4.6%) belong to no vaginal cleansing group (B) compared to 1.8% in povidone iodine vaginal cleansing group(A), which is statistically significant (p=0.01). Over all (13%) women had post-operative fever, with significant difference among the two groups i.e. (8.6%) were in group B versus (4.4%) in group A (p=0.005).

Conclusions Povidone iodine vaginal cleansing prior to caesarean section is significantly effective in reducing post-operative infectious morbidities.