SKIN INJURIES IN NEWBORN INTENSIVE CARE: INTEGRATIVE REVIEW

Abstract

The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) is an appropriate therapeutic environment for the treatment of newborns in serious condition, which has the latest technology and diversified equipment, in addition to highly trained and specific professionals for the care of newborns. The objective is to analyze and describe the scientific evidence on the risk factors for the development of cutaneous and care to maintain the integrity of the newborn's skin in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). An integrative literature review was carried out, with a descriptive nature and a qualitative approach. The data search was performed through the Virtual Health Library (VHL), and its databases: BDENF, MEDLINE, LILACS and IBECS. Complete works were included, available in full, that addressed the theme: skin integrity, with an emphasis on care and practices adopted in the NICU, including risk factors and incidence of injuries, in addition to studies that were sampled by preterm NB and the term, published from 2016 to 2021, in Portuguese, English and Spanish. Works that did not present relevant theoretical foundations on the subject were excluded, as well as publications with duplicity. Through the studies, it can be concluded that several factors are associated with the appearance of skin lesions, and prematurity should be highlighted as one of the main points, considering that premature NBs have more sensitive skin, making them more susceptible to the onset of most.