Evaluation of the antiseptic efficacy of 4% chlorhexidine gluconate and 10% povidone iodine on Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus-infected wounds in White Rat (Rattus Norvegicus)

INTRODUCTION: Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), an opportunistic bacterium that harms immunocompromised hosts, was 8.1% at our hospital in 2014, with 8.2% of cases in the surgical wards. Chlorhexidine gluconate (CHG) and povidone iodine (PVP-I) are excellent antiseptics for MRSA-infected wounds.
METHODS: Groups of male Wistar rats (n=15) were wounded and inoculated with MRSA then divided into three groups of intervention; 4% CHG, 10% PVP-I, and saline (control). After a six-hour incubation, each wound was intervened. Swab samples were taken before (first result), after intervention (second result), and 24 hours after intervention (third result), followed by a tissue sample taken in the end (fourth result). Using colony-forming units (CFU)/ml, the bacterial colonies were divided into three logarithmic groups: log10 1, ≤ log10 5 (≠ 0), and > log10 5. All data were analysed using a statistic with a significance level of P < 0.05%.
RESULTS: Only the second result of all groups showed a reduction in colony number, while the other results showed > log10 5 CFU/ml. Sixty percent of the second result of PVP-I group showed no bacteria, the rest, 40%, showed ≤ log10 5 (≠0) CFU/ml. All of the second result of CHG group showed no bacteria. We found a significant difference in the second results of all groups (P = 0.009) and in the comparison between CHG versus control group and PVP-I versus control group (P = 0.003 and 0.049, respectively).
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: The effectiveness of 4% CHG and 10% PVP-I is equivalent in MRSA-infected wound care in this study.