Chlorhexidine is more effective than povidone-iodine for preventing surgical site infections (SSIs), especially in clean-contaminated procedures.

• Chlorhexidine reduces overall SSI risk by 17% compared to povidone-iodine (risk ratio 0.83).
• It particularly lowers superficial incisional SSIs, with no significant effect on deep incisional or organ-space infections.

Use chlorhexidine for skin preparation to enhance surgical outcomes.

• The analysis included 32 high-quality trials and nearly 30,000 patients.