Postoperative infections are common side effect of any surgical procedure. Orthopaedic surgeries in specific have an increased chance of postoperative infections as complications due to the implant being introduced and placed at the operative site. By following simple inexpensive methods this post operative infections can be reduced. 50 Patients with closed fractures of the tibial shaft were chosen. Patients with closed tibial shaft fractures operated on Monday, Wednesday and Friday were operated with povidone iodine painted intramedullary interlocking nails for fracture fixation. The patients with closed fractures of tibial shaft operated on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday were operated with plain intramedullary nails for fracture fixation . It was noted that, in patients operated with plain intramedullary nails for fracture fixation, the incidence of postoperative infections was about 4% where as the incidence of postoperative infection rate with povidone iodine painted intramedullary nails was zero. With the use of povidone iodine painted nails the emphasis is on reduction of even the 1­2% infection rates postoperatively. There is a considerable reduction in the incidence of infections postoperatively after intramedullary nailing of closed fractures of tibial shaft by using povidone iodine treated intramedullary nails. Simplicity,easy availabilty and cost effectiveness of this small step would make a noteworthy difference.

Keywords: Tibial Fractures; Povidone; Intramedullary Nail; Infections.