Chlorhexidine - a novel intervention to decrease the nursery stay and antibiotic exposure duration - randomized trial

To study the effect of chlorhexidine (CHD) application on umbilical cord and evaluate its impact on duration of NICU stay and antibiotic exposure days.

We enrolled 140 newborns in our study (70 in intervention group and 70 in control group), and their data were collected. Newborns in control group were given routine umbilical cord care, and intervention group received CHD spray on umbilical cord three times a day and for the next three days of cord fall. In this study, swabs were sent from umbilical cord at the age of three and seven days of life for culture. Data regarding culture-proven sepsis, duration of NICU stay and antibiotic days were recorded in the proforma for data collection.

This is a secondary analysis of the data of the randomized control trial. A significant reduction in duration of nursery stay was seen in CHD group in comparison with control group (12.4 ± 5.38 d versus 14.7 ± 6.62 d, p = 0.04, significant). Significant reduction was also seen in days of antibiotic exposure in the intervention group (9.74 ± 6.88 d versus 12.1 ± 7.78 d, p = 0.04, significant).

Application of CHD to umbilical cord shortens duration of nursery stay and antibiotic days during nursery admission. This simple intervention may be used as mode in places where nursery facilities are limited, as aid in early discharge and shortening the exposure to antibiotic, which may help in reducing the prevalence of multidrug-resistance microbes. This cheap intervention may also be effective in reducing the economical burden on the health infrastructure of the country and parents.