Risk factors for developing pressure ulcers in neonates and novel ideas for developing neonatal antipressure ulcers solutions

Abstract

Pressure Ulcers (PU) are highly prevalent iatrogenic occurrences among hospitalized adults and neonatal patients. These decubitus ulcers are progressive in nature and are mostly seen in patients that are immobile for prolonged periods, either by virtue of being bedridden or chair bound. The continual pressure on the skin surfaces disrupts blood supply from the subcutaneous regions and leads to the development of PUs. Several treatment and prevention protocols have been defined for adult patients. However, there is a dearth of literature available for critically ill pediatrics or neonates and often adult practices are used to treat pressure injuries in them. There is a significant physiological and anatomical difference between the skin of newborns and adults or even older children. The dermal layer of a preterm neonate is <60% of the thickness of an adult and has a much higher susceptibility for developing pressure ulcers. The immune system of premature infants lacks an efficient antigenic specificity, diversity or immunologic memory, making them prone to lethal infections. The study was performed using search engines like PubMed, EMBASE and Google Scholar, with the focus of the search strategy being the breadth rather than the details of the study. Selected keywords were used alone or in combination with each other to retrieve relevant articles. This review focuses on the risk of developing PUs in neonates, explains the currently available solutions of PU prevention in adults, emphasizes the need for neonatal specific solutions and presents novel ideas for developing antisore bed for neonates.