History and Objectives: Considering the role of episiotomy in normal parturition and the existence of different views on its sterilization, this study was carried out on episiotomy wound healing referrals of Ziaian hospital in 1998.

Materials and Methods: The clinical trial strategy of this study was conducted on 100 cases. They were randomly divided into betadine (n=50) and water (n=50) groups and were similar regarding age, weight to height ratio, health status, head periphery, labor duration, number of sutures and type of method. The efficacy was determined according to wound healing, redness, infection and suture absorption at first, fifth and tenth days post-operation.

Results: Patients were similar regarding personal, sociological and disorder status. Swelling less than 1cm at first and 5th days was 56% and 60% in betadine group and 46% and 62% in water group. Swelling less than 1cm at 10th day was 68% in betadine group and 40% in water group. Redness less than 3mm was 60%, 46% and 68% respectively, but it was 60%, 38% and 66% in water group. Absorption of skin stitches at 10th day was 46% in betadine group and 52% in water group. There were no signs of wound opening and infection in both groups. There were no significant differences between the above-mentioned criteria.

Conclusion and Recommendations: Betadine has no effect on wound healing after episiotomy and there is no indication for its usage.