Bruno Giraudeau, Gisèle Gremmo-Feger, Jean Christophe Roze, Cécile Boscher, A. Legrand, Jocelyne Caillon, Patrick Pladys, Christèle Gras-Le Guen, Dominique Saillant, Nathalie Godon, Christophe Savagner, Emmanuelle Descombes, Agnès Caille, Elise Launay, Sébastien Barbarot, Clinique Médicale et Service d'Urgences Pédiatriques, Hôpital Mère-Enfant, Centre hospitalier universitaire de Nantes (CHU Nantes), Centre d’Investigation Clinique de Nantes (CIC Nantes), Université de Nantes (UN)-Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM)-Centre hospitalier universitaire de Nantes (CHU Nantes), Centre d’Investigation Clinique [Tours] CIC 1415 (CIC ), Centre Hospitalier Régional Universitaire de Tours (CHRU Tours)-Hôpital Bretonneau-Université de Tours-Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM), Thérapeutiques cliniques et expérimentales des infections (EA 3826) (EA 3826), Université de Nantes - UFR de Médecine et des Techniques Médicales (UFR MEDECINE), Université de Nantes (UN)-Université de Nantes (UN), Service de Gynécologie-Obstétrique (BREST - Gynéco-Obs), Centre Hospitalier Régional Universitaire de Brest (CHRU Brest), CHU Pontchaillou [Rennes], Centre d'Investigation Clinique [Rennes] (CIC), Université de Rennes 1 (UR1), Université de Rennes (UNIV-RENNES)-Université de Rennes (UNIV-RENNES)-Hôpital Pontchaillou-Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM), Service de dermatologie [Nantes], Université de Nantes (UN)-Centre hospitalier universitaire de Nantes (CHU Nantes), Service de Médecine Néonatale, Université de Nantes (UN), Université Francois Rabelais [Tours], Centre Hospitalier Régional Universitaire de Tours (CHRU Tours)-Hôpital Bretonneau-Université de Tours (UT)-Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM), and Université de Rennes (UR)-Hôpital Pontchaillou-Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM)
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: In developed countries, where omphalitis has become rare and related mortality nil, benefits of antiseptic use in umbilical cord care have not been demonstrated. We aimed to assess the noninferiority of dry care compared with antiseptics in France where antiseptic use is widespread. METHODS: We conducted a noninferiority, cluster-randomized, 2-period crossover trial, in 6 French university maternity units including all infants born after 36 weeks’ gestation. Maternity units were randomly assigned to provide either their usual antiseptic care or a dry care umbilical cord method for a 4-month period, and then units switched to the alternate cord cleansing method for a 4-month period. The primary outcome was neonatal omphalitis, adjudicated by an independent blinded committee based on all available photographs, clinical, and bacteriological data. We used a noninferiority margin of 0.4%. Analysis was performed per protocol and by intention to treat. RESULTS: Among 8698 participants, omphalitis occurred in 3 of 4293 (0.07%) newborns in the dry care group and in none of the 4404 newborns in the antiseptic care group (crude difference: 0.07; 95% confidence interval: –0.03 to 0.21). Late neonatal infection, parental appreciation of difficulty in care, and time to separation of the cord were not significantly different between the 2 groups. CONCLUSIONS: Dry cord was noninferior to the use of antiseptics in preventing omphalitis in full-term newborns in a developed country. Antiseptic use in umbilical cord care is therefore unnecessary, constraining, and expensive in high-income countries and may be replaced by dry care.