Table 1.

Characteristics of Antiseptic Solutions

Antiseptic	Mechanism of Action	Antimicrobial Coverage	Onset	Duration	Application	Examples
Aqueous-iodophor	Free iodine − protein, DNA damage	Excellent for gram + bacteria, good for gram −, fungi, virus, Mtb	Intermediate	2 hours19	2-step scrub and paint	Betadine* Scrub Care†
Aqueous-CHG	Disrupts membranes	Excellent for gram +, good for gram − and virus, fair for fungus, poor for Mtb	Intermediate	6 hours20	2-step scrub and dry, repeat	Hibiclens‡
Alcohol-iodophor	Denatures protein, free iodine − protein, DNA damage	Improved gram −, Mtb activity	Rapid	48 hours (DuraPrep)11 96 hours (Prevail-FX)21	1-step paint Dry time, minimum of 3 min on hairless surface	DuraPrep solution§ Prevail-FX†
Alcohol-CHG	Denatures protein, disrupts membranes	Improved gram −, Mtb, fungal activity	Rapid	48 hours22,23	Dry site: 30-sec scrub Moist site: 2-min scrub Dry time, minimum of 3 min on hairless surface	ChloraPrep

Mtb, Mycobacterium tuberculosis; CHG, chlorhexidine gluconate.

^*Betadine® is from Purdue Products, LP (Stamford, CT).

^†ScrubCare® and Prevail-FX® are from Cardinal Health (Dublin, OH).

^‡Hibiclens® is from Mölnlycke Health Care US LLC (Norcross, GA).

^§3M™ DuraPrep™ Surgical Solution (Iodine Povacrylex [0.7% available iodine] and Isopropyl Alcohol, 74% w/w) Patient Preoperative Skin Preparation is from 3M Health Care (St. Paul, MN).

ChloraPrep® is from CareFusion, Inc. (Leawood, KS).

Based on data from Mangram AJ et al.¹