Comparison between two and twenty-four hours salt powder in treatment of infant umbilical granuloma

ABSTRACT

One of the most common umbilical abnormalities in neonates is umbilical granuloma, causing inflammation and drainage. The common treatment is application of a 75% silver nitrate stick. This study was carried out to compare the effect of 2 and 24 hours salt [NaCl] in treatment on infant umbilical granuloma. From January 2004 to January 2006, at Neonatal ICU and Infant Follow-up Clinic of Imam Reza Hospital, Mashad University of Medical Sciences, Mashad, Iran, two groups including 20 infants with umbilical granuloma undergoing a 24 hours treatment with salt as the case group and 20 infants undergoing a 2 hours treatment with salt as the control group were compared. There were18 boys and 22 girls. The treatment days in case and control groups were 1.2+0.6 and 2.1+0.4, respectively and the difference was statistically significant. In either group, there were no significant differences between sex, birth weight, time of umbilical separation and age of enrollment. 24-hours treatment of umbilical granuloma with salt was shown to be more effective than the 2- hours treatment method: