Comparison between Two and Twenty-four Hours Salt Powder in Treatment of Infant Umbilical Granuloma

Background: 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. Methods: 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. Results: 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. Conclusion: 24-hours treatment of umbilical granuloma with salt was shown to be more effective than the 2- hours treatment method