M1110147 Rev. 5 © 2007 Datex-Ohmeda. All rights reserved. vii
Care of the Skin
Important clinical information – please read carefully before using this device.
The skin serves as a protective barrier against chemical, mechanical, and biological insults.
The skin is also important in the regulation of body temperature and serves as a route of
water excretion, especially in premature infants. The introduction of new intensive-care
techniques has been associated with the increased survival of very small, premature infants.
The immaturity of the skin of the very low weight infants, coupled with excessive
instrumentation and handling, poses previously unrecognized problems for the nursing care
of these infants
.
1
Please read, evaluate and implement the following recommendations as appropriate:
1. Please refer to the following standard of skin care recommendations as given in the
literature
2
when utilizing this device with all infants. Special attention should be given
to sanitation and skin integrity.
• Observe color, rashes, excoriation
• Clean skin with warm water
• Clean perineal area after stooling
• Change infant’s position every 2 hours
2. This device is intended only for the treatment of existing hyperbilirubinemia. Use of
this device for prophylactic treatment, particularly of premature infants, is not
recommended. These infants have extremely fragile skin
3
and various clinical studies
have produced inconsistent conclusions concerning the effectiveness of prophylactic
phototherapy treatment.
4, 5
1
NAACOG(1992), OGN Nursing Practice Resource, Neonatal Skin Care, NAACOG.
2
ibid
3
Rutter, N., The immature skin, British Medical Bulletin, Vol. 44, No. 4, 1988
4
Curtis-Cohen, M., et al, Randomized trial of prophylactic phototherapy in the infant with very low birth weight,
The Journal of Pediatrics, July, 1985
5
Brown, A., et al, Efficacy of Phototherapy in Prevention and Management of Neonatal Hyberbilirubinemia,
Pediatrics, February , 1988
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