Comparing the effects of chlorhexidine and povidone-iodine on bacterial colonization and local infection at Shaldon catheter insertion site among patients receiving hemodialysis

Aims: one of the commonest complications of hemodialysis is infection secondary to central venous catheterization. the aim of this study was to compare the effects of chlorhexidine and povidone-iodine (betadine) on bacterial colonization and local infection at shaldon catheter insertion site among patients receiving hemodialysis. methods: this study was conducted by using a quasi-experimental design in 2013. in total, 56 patients who had undergone central venous catheterization for receiving hemodialysis at golestan hospital, ahvaz, iran, were recruited and randomly allocated to either the chlorhexidine or the betadine groups. the catheter insertion site in the chlorhexidine and the betadine groups was cleaned and disinfected by using chlorhexidine 4% and betadine 10%, respectively. groups were then compared with each other in terms of bacterial colonization and local infection at catheter insertion site. the spss16 was used for performing the fisher’s exact, the chi-square, and the independent-samples ttests. results: the incidence of bacterial colonization and local infection at catheter insertion site in the chlorhexidine and the betadine groups was 3.6% and 21.5%, respectively. the fisher’s exact test showed a significant difference between the two groups regarding bacterial colonization (p value<0.001). conclusions: chlorhexidine is more effective than betadine in minimizing bacterial colonization and local infection at the insertion site of shaldon catheter among patients receiving hemodialysis.