Effect of Common Salt in the Management of Umbilical Granuloma in Infants Compared to Copper Sulphate

Abstract

Background: Umbilical granuloma (UG) is the most frequent umbilical abnormality in infants with a prevalence of 1 in 500. It is a benign overgrowth of granulation tissue due to continued inflammation after the cord separation. Persistent UG causes infection, oozing, discharge and irritation if not treated on time. Chemical cauterization with copper sulphate is commonly used that causes periumbilical burn and irritation leads to find out an alternative method. Objectives: To observe the outcome of topical application of common salt in comparison with application of copper sulphate in the treatment of UG. Methods: This randomized controlled trial was conducted in the Faculty of Pediatric Surgery, Bangladesh Shishu Hospital and Institute from June 2020 to July 2022. A total of 150 patients clinically diagnosed as UG attending outpatient department during the study period (June 2020 to July 2022) were enrolled and randomly selected into two groups. In Group A (n=75) patients were treated with common salt and Group B (n=75) patients were treated with copper sulphate. Results: The mean age was 9.88±9.37 weeks in Group A and 10.49±9.31 weeks in Group B. Maximum patients 57.7% and 53.3% were 2-8 weeks of age in Group A and Group B respectively. At the end of 28 days follow up 70 (93.3%) patients had complete resolution in Group A and 73 (97.3%) in Group B. The difference was not statistically significant (p>0.05). The side effects such as local irritation was found 3(4%) in Group A and 11(14.7%) in Group B. This difference was statistically significant between two groups (p<0.05). Conclusion: Application of common salt is simple, effective and can be applied at home safely by parents and more convenient than application of copper sulphate in the treatment of UG.

DS (Child) H J 2023; 39(2): 95-98