Bacteriological Evaluation of Antiseptic Solutions Used to Keep Cheattle's Forceps

There is little information available on the bacteriological contamination of Cheattle's forceps during routine use and the effects of antiseptic solutions. This study was conducted to detect infection in various antiseptics and disinfections in-use used for keeping the Cheattle's forceps in surgical wards. An aqueous solution of 0.5 and 1 % cetrimide/chlorhexidine, 2.4 % glutaraldehyde, 5 % povidone iodine, and 10 % chloroxylenol were compared using the normal saline as control. The samples from each bottle were sent for culture on the 3rd, 5th, and 7th day. All the culture reports were analyzed and statistically compared. A total of 2,160 samples were sent for culture from solutions including control over a period of 7 days. A total of 360 samples were sent for culture from each antiseptic solution. Out of 2,160 samples, 240 (11.11 %) were positive over a period of 7 days for contamination with microbial organisms. The most common organism isolated was Pseudomonas present in 140 samples followed by E. coli in 71 samples. S. aureus was present in seven samples, bacillus in ten samples, and Coaglase -ve Streptococcus and Klebsiella in six samples each. Number of positive culture consistently increased in normal saline and cetrimide/chlorhexidine, but povidone iodine, chloroxylenol, and glutaraldehyde did not show any positive culture on the 3rd day. Povidone iodine and glutaraldehyde showed positive culture on the 5th and 7th day, respectively., but they were statistically insignificant. On the 7th day, glutaraldehyde was the only solution which did not show any positive culture. We strongly recommend that the Cheattle's forceps should be kept in a bottle containing glutaraldehyde or chloroxylenol.