Tincture of iodine

Antiseptic solution rubbed on skin before surgical operations

Tincture of iodine, iodine tincture, or weak iodine solution is an antiseptic tincture containing iodine, ethanol and water. It is usually 2% elemental iodine, along with potassium iodide or sodium iodide, dissolved in a mixture of ethanol and water. It was used from at least 1907 in emergency pre-operative skin preparation by the Italian surgeon Antonio Grossich; three years later, an experimental study at the University of Genoa’s Institute of Hygiene resulted in a mere 3% infection rate in injuries treated by Grossich’s disinfection method, as against 21% in those treated by the prevailing method.

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