Comparing the Effects of Chlorhexidine 2% and Iodopovidone-alcohol on Peripheral Venous Catheter Bacterial Colonization in Preterm Neonates

Background: Studies regarding cleansing the area with antiseptic solutions prior to catheterization in premature infants are limited. Therefore, the present study aimed to evaluate and compare the effects of chlorhexidine 2% and iodopovidone-alcohol solutions on bacterial colonization associated with the peripheral venous catheterization in premature infants. Methods: This quasi-experimental study was conducted in 2016-2017 at a neonatal intensive care unit in Qazvin, Iran. Premature infants (N=106) were assigned to the two groups of “A” treated with chlorhexidine 2% or “B” cleaned with iodopovidone-alcohol 10%. Quantitative culture of the catheters was performed 48 hours after insertion. Results: Our findings showed that the frequency of positive catheter tips culture was 6.6% among all the samples (N=7). Out of the seven positive cultures, five (43.9%) belonged to the iodopovidone-alcohol group and two (3.7%) were from the chlorhexidine 2% group. Although a number of the positive cultures in the iodopovidone-alcohol group was higher than the chlorhexidine 2% group, this difference was not statistically significant (P=0.21). Conclusion: Results of this study demonstrated that bacterial colony growth may be decreased when using preparatory chlorhexidine 2%, compared with iodopovidone-alcohol at no added risk to infants. We recommend further study in this regard.