Medical Adhesive-Related Skin Injuries and Associated Risk Factors in a Pediatric Intensive Care Unit.

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the prevalence of medical adhesive-related skin injuries (MARSIs) and associated risk factors in a pediatric ICU (PICU).

METHODS

A cross-sectional design was adopted in the PICU of a university-based children's hospital in eastern China. A total of 232 patients were enrolled, and 611 person-days were analyzed.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Researchers assessed all patients daily for 2 weeks. The use of adhesives and prevalence of MARSIs were recorded. The patients' clinical data were also collected. The prevalence of MARSIs was calculated daily, and the risk factors were examined statistically.

MAIN RESULTS

The MARSI prevalence ranged from 23.53% to 54.17% (mean, 37.15%). Multivariate analysis identified being female, age 2 years or younger, hospital stays longer than 5 days, infection, edema, and surgery as independent risk factors. Prevalence by product ranged from 19 to 53 per 1,000 product-days with a mean of 34 MARSIs per 1,000 product-days. The major MARSI types were epidermal stripping and skin tear. The face was the most common MARSI site, and tracheal intubation was the most common inciting condition. Implicated products were acrylate tapes with elastic cloth backings.

CONCLUSIONS

Researchers concluded that MARSI is common in the PICU. Skin stripping and skin tear were the most common types, and the face was the most vulnerable site for MARSI, typically attributable to the cloth tape used to affix tracheal intubation. Careful attention should be paid to children with identified risk factors (females, age 2 years or younger, longer hospital stays, edema, infection, or surgery).