title: An evaluation of saline irrigation and comparison of povidone-iodine and antibiotic in the surface decontamination of donor eyes.
abstract: We evaluated the effect of saline irrigation on 38 pairs of donor eyes and determined the relative efficacy of antibiotic rinse/storage (neomycin-polymyxin B-gramicidin) and povidone-iodine immersion. Microbial growth was found in 49 (64.5%) of 76 eyes from which cultures were taken before irrigation, and only four (8.2%) became culture negative after irrigation. Of 27 eyes culture negative before irrigation, 15 (55.6%) became positive after irrigation. One eye of each pair was then assigned randomly to antibiotic rinse/storage and the other eye to 3-minute immersion in 1% povidone-iodine. Both antimicrobial treatments decreased the numbers of positive cultures, with povidone-iodine showing an advantage that did not reach significance. These results demonstrate that saline irrigation of donor eyes in situ does not reduce surface contamination and that povidone-iodine immersion should be considered as an alternative for donor eye decontamination.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle.
authors.forename: R W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Nash
authors.forename: T D
authors.initials: TD
authors.lastname: Lindquist
authors.forename: R E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Kalina
mesh_terms: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001419:Bacteria / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D015169:Colony Count, Microbial; D003666:Decontamination / Q000379:methods; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D005123:Eye / Q000382:microbiology*; D006801:Humans; D011206:Povidone-Iodine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D011897:Random Allocation; D012965:Sodium Chloride / Q000494:pharmacology*; D007507:Therapeutic Irrigation; D014019:Tissue Donors
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D012965:Sodium Chloride; D011206:Povidone-Iodine