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The Credego procedure is a procedure performed in newborns right after giving birth. Performing the Credego procedure is to protect the child from gonococcal conjunctivitis, which causes blindness in children. What is the Crede treatment and is its performance justified? What complications may arise after applying the Credego treatment?
What is the Crede treatment?
The Crede treatment is one of the perinatal procedures that is performed here after the baby is born. This is a mandatory procedure that was introduced into medical standards in 1933. This means that the parents have no right not to consent to this procedure. The Crede treatment consists in instilling the child’s eyes with a solution of silver nitrate, which removes dangerous bacteria from its surface. After the procedure, you cannot rinse your eyes with physiological saline, as this leads to the precipitation of silver chloride. Instead of silver nitrate, erythromycin ointment and tetracycline solution are also used to instill the eyes of the newborn.
Crede’s treatment – a short history
The Crede treatment was named after the doctor who introduced this procedure to perinatal activities. In 1880, Professor Carl Crede initiated eye drops in children to prevent gonococcal conjunctivitis, a common cause of blindness in children. At the beginning, two percent silver nitrate solution was used for eye instillation, which radically reduced the number of children suffering from gonococcal conjunctivitis. In Poland, the Crede procedure was introduced to perinatal standards in 1933 and, as already mentioned, it is an obligatory procedure from which no concessions are made.
Crede treatment and gonococcal conjunctivitis
The Crede treatment is intended to protect children against gonococcal conjunctivitis. Parents often protest against the procedure, explaining that the child had no chance of contracting the disease. They do not realize, however, that the mother’s gonorrhea infection may be asymptomatic. Gonococcal conjunctivitis is an acute and purulent inflammation that, if left untreated, leads to corneal damage and blindness. The disease is caused by gonorrhea, which has the property of penetrating the corneal epithelium. Gonorrhea infection can occur during childbirth because the baby is exposed to many microbes as it passes through the birth canal. Symptoms of gonococcal conjunctivitis appear between the second and fourth day of life of a child and include eyelid and conjunctival edema, profuse purulent discharge, corneal ulceration, and conjunctival hyperaemia. It may also happen that gonococcal conjunctivitis causes sepsis in a child, meningitis or arthritis.
Crede treatment and possible complications
There has been a lot of controversy surrounding Crede’s surgery, mainly because parents have no right to refuse to perform this procedure. The procedure itself does not cause any serious complications. Silver nitrate applied to the eyes can cause chemical conjunctivitis, which usually disappears spontaneously one day after the surgery. A natural side effect of the procedure is conjunctival redness, which, however, does not require treatment. If eye irritation persists for a long time, rinse with boiled water several times a day.
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