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James J. Leyden, MD
Department of Dermatology University of Pennsylvania 36th and Spruce streets Philadelphia, PA 19104

Arch Dermatol. 1984;120(11):1419.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

To the Editor.—

Mertz et al¹ recently concluded that the topical application of 10% povidone-iodine and 70% alcohol had "very limited efficacy as antiseptic agents for the treatment of superficial wounds." My analysis of their data suggests that a much greater antimicrobial effect occurred than their pessimistic conclusion.

The methodology used involved a well-controlled experimental infection model in Yorkshire pigs. The wounding technique involved split-thickness dermal wounds—this provides ample serum that can dilute and/or neutralize topically applied antimicrobial agents. The treatment consisted of a single application of 0.1 mL to a 7 x 10 mm x 0.3 mm deep wound. The inoculum size was large, 20 µL of a suspension in excess of 10⁸ organisms per milliliter. The combination of a dermal wound (as opposed to a superficial epidermal abrasion type of wound), a large bacterial inoculum, and a single application of a small volume of an antiseptic . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

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