Effect of preoperative scrub on the bacterial flora of the endocervix and vagina.

A study was designed to evaluate the effectiveness of a preoperative vaginal and perineal scrub in reducing bacteria. An iodophore soap followed by an iodophore solution was used for the scrub. Cultures were taken from the vagina and endocervix of 50 patients before and after the scrub, and cultured for aerobes, anaerobes, and mycoplasma. An average of 5.62 bacterial species per patient was cultured from the vagina before the scrub and 3.9 from the endocervix. The corresponding numbers after the scrub were 0.08 species per patient from the vagina and 1.84 from the endocervix. The reduction of organisms from the vagina was unrelated to the reduction in the endocervix. The scrub was by far more effective in the vagina than in the endocervix. The vagina was bacteria free in 92% of cases while the endocervix was bacteria free in only 8% of cases. No organisms could be recovered from the cervix of 8 patients who had removal of the endocervix by hot conization followed by the iodophore scrub. There was an average of 4.25 species per patient from the 8 cultures of the endocervix prior to the cone and scrub.