The childhood scars of newborn intensive care.

Many of the techniques used in newborn intensive care damage the skin and may lead to scarring. We have investigated a cohort of consecutive survivors of newborn intensive care for the presence of scars. Ninety of the original 100 children between the ages of 8 and 9 years were examined in detail by a single observer--the number, site and severity of the scars were noted and compared with the findings when the children were 2 years old. There was an overall reduction in the number of scars with time, regardless of gestational age. Scars from needlemarks were reduced by 41% and those from intravenous accidents by 70%, compared with those seen at 2 years. Scars from chest drains were still visible, in two cases requiring corrective surgery. Nine children and their families found that the scars caused them embarrassment. The only scars which did not usually improve with time and which were often judged to be worse cosmetically were those caused by surgery.