Chlorhexidine Bathing Effect on Clostridium Difficile Rates

Effect of Daily Chlorhexidine Bathing on Clostridium Difficile Rates on the General Medical Floor in Patients Receiving Antibiotics

Status

Completed

Phases

Phase 2

Study type

Interventional

Source

ClinicalTrials.gov

Registry ID

NCT02502682

Enrollment

167

Registered

2015-07-20

Start date

2015-07-31

Completion date

2016-06-30

Last updated

2016-07-11

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Clostridium Difficile

Keywords

Chlorhexidine bathing

Brief summary

Clostridium difficile (C. diff.) infections, whether nosocomial or community borne, may present with profound diarrhea, especially in those patients receiving antibiotics. Based on a preliminary review of hospital data, the investigators have found that these symptomatic c. diff infections occur with a relatively high incidence at Delnor Hospital. Notwithstanding their high mortality, one recent study attributes a near quadrupling of hospitalization costs to c. diff infections. Chlorhexidine baths have been shown in multiple randomized trials to help reduce the incidence of highly virulent pathogens and hospital acquired infections. Further, several studies show a favorable effect of reducing the incidence of c. diff infections by using Chlorhexidine baths on ICU patients. Far fewer studies, however, have focused on the effects of these baths on general medical/surgical wards. This investigation seeks to study the effect of the daily use of 2% Chlorhexidine gluconate wipes in patients on the general medical/surgical wards who are exposed to antibiotics for a suspected or confirmed infection.

Interventions

DRUGSage 2% Chlorhexidine Gluconate Cloth Patient Preoperative Skin Preparation

Daily bathing.

Study design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Intervention model

PARALLEL

Primary purpose

PREVENTION

Masking

NONE

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

ALL

Age

18 Years to No maximum

Healthy volunteers

Inclusion criteria

* Prescription of antibiotics for suspected or confirmed infection. * Admitted to the 2600 General/Medical ward at Delnor Hospital.

Exclusion criteria

* Antibiotics only for surgical prophylaxis * Not mentally capable * Cannot provide consent in English * Pregnant * Documented chlorhexidine allergy * Patient is a prisoner * Health system employee

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame	Description
Duration of Hospital stays	expected average of six days	—
Number of participants with Relative Risk of C-diff infection	up to 12 months	Study data will cease to be collected after 300 participants have been enrolled or until 12 months have elapsed. Data will be collected and assessed monthly.

Countries

United States

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026