Chlorhexidine bathing in a tertiary care neonatal intensive care unit: A pilot study

Concerns regarding potential risk of dermal irritation have led to the exclusion of NICU patients from the recommendation regarding the use of 2% chlorhexidine gluconate (CHG) wash for daily skin cleansing to reduce bloodstream infections. Our aim was to assess the safety of 2% CHG bathing in NICU patients.

The regulator required a stepwise study enrollment to three successive groups: term infants, followed by near-term and pre-term infants. For comparison, we used a cohort of matched controls. A propensity score-adjusted regression model was used to compare the groups.

Infants were bathed thrice-weekly with 2% CHG-impregnated washcloths. Participant's skin was examined daily.

Over a total of 661 days of treatment: 384,129, and 148 days for the term, near-term and pre-term groups, respectively, no skin reactions were observed. The intervention group was generally sicker, however, bloodstream infections were similar between the groups.

For infants >30 weeks and >3 days old, 2% CHG bathing was safe. Large multicenter studies are urgently needed to establish the effectiveness of this practice in the NICU.