To evaluate the efficacy and tolerability of 10% povidone-iodine in eliminating nasal
carriage of Staphylococcus aureus and MRSA. To determine whether a more convenient,
single-dose, pre-operative 10% povidone-iodine (PI) application is effective in reducing
nasal carriage of S. aureus and MRSA. We expect a statistically significant decrease in S.
aureus/MRSA colonization in nasal cultures taken perioperatively after intervention in
patients who received pretreatment with PI as compared to patients who received normal saline
(NS).