Cleaning of the perineal/genital area before urine collection from toilet-trained children prevented sample contamination
S Vaillancourt
Correspondence to: Dr S Vaillancourt, Montreal Children’s Hospital, Montreal, Quebec, Canada; suzanne.vaillancourt@mail.mcgill.ca
QUESTION
When collecting a midstream urine sample from toilet-trained children, does cleaning of the perineal/genital area before collection prevent sample contamination?
METHODS
Design:
cluster randomised (by week) controlled trial.
Allocation:
not concealed.
Blinding:
blinded (microbiologists).
Follow-up period:
48 hours.
Setting:
emergency department of a tertiary care paediatric centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Patients:
350 toilet-trained children 2–18 years of age (45% 2–5 y, 37% 6–12 y, and 18% 13–18 y; 60% girls) who had a midstream urine sample requested for any medical reason. Children with developmental delay were excluded.
Intervention:
cleaning of the perineal/genital area twice, using liquid soap and gauze pads (n = 179) or no cleaning (n = 171) before collecting a midstream urine sample in a sterile container. Only samples with a positive urinalysis result were sent to the microbiology …
