Comparison of three cutaneous antiseptic solutions for the prevention of catheter colonization in an ICU for adult patients: a multicenter prospective randomized controlled trial

The current CDC guideline for the prevention of intravascular catheter-related infections recommends skin preparation with a greater than 0.5% chlorhexidine with alcohol solution before central venous catheter (CVC) or peripheral arterial catheter (AC) placement. However, few studies investigated the superiority of 1% alcoholic chlorhexidine gluconate (1% CHG) over either 0.5% alcoholic chlorhexidine gluconate (0.5% CHG) or 10% aqueous povidone iodine (10% PVI) for the prevention of catheter colonization. The aim of this study is to compare the effectiveness of three skin antiseptic solutions for the prevention of intravascular catheter colonization.