Dilemma in the diagnosis of povidone-iodine hypersensitivity

Povidone-iodine is a commonly used antiseptic solution in surgical practice. Almost every patient who needs a minor or a major surgical procedure (sometimes, a medical procedure too) gets exposed to this antiseptic. Even though the use of this antiseptic is widespread, the number of cases reporting hypersensitivity to it is meagre. This case report highlights a case of povidone-iodine - induced hypersensitivity, which presented a great difficulty in diagnosis, due to the usage of other drugs that could have been more likely causes for this hypersensitivity.