A Comparison of the Effectiveness of Tincture of Iodine and Potassium Iodide on Chronic Sinusitis Patients with Biofilm

Objectives: Several factors may influence the results of bacteriological and fungal studies in chronic rhinosinusitus (CRS) patients. It is well established that antibiotics perform poorly against bacteria and fungi in biofilm. We investigated the potential utility of tincture of iodine and potassium iodide on bacterial and fungal elements within the biofilmin chronic rhinosinusitis patients. Materials and Methods: Bacteriology was studied in 12 consecutive adult patients presenting with CRS who underwent functional endoscopic sinus surgery. Ethmoid tissue from all patients was treated with the same concentrations of tincture of iodine or potassium iodide at different time intervals. The ethmoid tissues were examined for Live/Dead bacterial and fungal cells by Baclight assay. Results: Tincture of iodine and potassium iodide were able to kill bacterial and fungal cells in ethmoid tissue. We performed quantitative analysis and showed that tincture of iodine is slightly more effective than potassium iodide. Conclusion: The tincture of iodine treatment on the ethmoid tissues yielded a higher percentage of dead bacterial or fungal cells compared to potassium iodide treatment with similar concentrations.