Reduction of skin bacteria on the hands of the surgeon and the rest of the operating team is widely believed to be of paramount importance. In this study we compared the efficacy of two currently available surgical scrub preparations, and the duration of scrubbing as a means of reducing bacterial flora of the hands before every operation using the fingertip culture technique in six different groups: those who will scrub for 3 and 5 minutes using chlorhexidine and povidone iodine, and those who will dip their hands for one minute using the two separate solutions. Bacteriologic studies were done using nutrient agar plates incubated prior to bacterial determination and colony counting derived from 3 separate occasions: before any washing of the hands; immediately after scrubbing for the prescribed period of time; and after 1 minute dipping with the assigned agents. It was found out that there is no significant difference between a 3 and a 5-minute scrub. Brief dipping of the hands permits adequate microbial reduction and chlorhexidine produced the greatest reduction against bacterial flora. (Author)