Determination of the microbiologic flora on the inclusion site among obstetric patients who underwent surgical skin preparation with either 10% povidone iodine or 4% chlorhexidine antiseptic solution prior to cesarean section in a tertiary hospital / Philippine Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology

Objectives@#To determine the microbiologic flora after surgical skin preparation of the incision site using either chlorhexidine or povidone iodine antiseptic solution prior to cesarean section among obstetric patients.@*Materials and Methods@#This is a cross-sectional study of ninety-two (92) obstetric patients who were admitted for cesarean section. They underwent fishbowl lottery, wherein participants drew from a bag of folded stubs written chlorhexidine or povidone iodine, to determine their distribution to either group. Forty six (46) participants were distributed in each group. Skin cultures were obtained by the researchers from the incision site after surgical skin preparation using chlorhexidine or povidone iodine. @*Results@#Total of 92 participants enrolled in this study, 46 participants in chlorhexidine group and another 46 participants in povidone iodine group. There was no statistically significant difference between the 2 groups in terms of clinicodemographic characteristics. Out of the 92 participants, only one participant, under the povidone iodine group, showed a growth of 100,000 colony-forming units of Enterobacter cloacae and has no statistical significance in the growth of microbiologic flora after effective surgical skin preparation with either chlorhexidine or povidone iodine.@*Conclusions@#This study showed that chlorhexidine and povidone iodine are both effective in eliminating microbiologic flora after surgical skin preparation prior to cesarean section. Povidone iodine is still a sound choice of antiseptic especially in low resource setting. Due to the descriptive nature of this paper, only assumptions that chlorhexidine and povidone iodine are comparable antiseptic solutions can be deduced from this study.

Novel use of GnRH agonist as neoadjuvant treatment for giant endometrial polyps

@#Endometrial polyp, being one of the most common causes of abnormal uterine bleeding, is formed from localized overgrowths of endometrial tissue brought about by increased estrogen levels. Sizes of polyps usually are less than 2cm, while those >4 cm are labeled as giant polyps. Such polyps can even occupy the entire endometrial cavity, making complete hysteroscopic removal difficult and prone to failure and morbidity. Limited literature regarding use of GnRH agonist in endometrial polyps are published, but given the idea that it induces a state of hypoestrogenism, it could be a promising approach for neoadjuvant treatment in such cases. In this paper, 3 cases of giant endometrial polyps with fertility problems were given GnRH agonists prior to resection. All cases have shown significant decrease in size of their polyps, making complete and successful hysteroscopic removal feasible.