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65 Skin Necrosis inChildren: Physical andInfectious Causes
421
The pH, osmolarity, and biological activity as in the case of vasoactive substances or chemo­therapeutic agents [22, 23].
65.3.8 Identication ofExtravasation
andRisk Factors
The Infusion Nurses Society adapted the scale to include guidelines for lesion size and suggesting that inltrates involving blistering solutions, even if present in minimal quantities, should be con­sidered as a stage 4 (Table65.3). But the guide­lines used to adults cannot be adapted to the pediatric patient; since lesions similar in size to those of adults are more severe in children due to the size of the body and the different skin struc­ture. Suitable scales for pediatric and neonatal inltrations were also created to account for the smaller surface area and different clinical presen­tations. The appearance of necrosis is clearly associated with poor prognosis and severe pain­ful clinical symptoms.

65.3.9 Dangerous Substances

Intravenous drugs can be divided into three main categories:
1. Not blistering or inert.
2. Irritants: drugs capable of causing pain,
swelling, venous irritation, and chemical phlebitis at the injection site.
3. Blistering: drugs that cause redness, pain, and
blistering during inltration and can progress to ulceration and tissue necrosis.
There are several characteristics of the drug that can affect potential tissue damage these include: osmolarity, pH, direct therapeutic effects, and solubility.
Osmolarity describes the number of particles that are suspended in solution. The normal serum osmolarity of a newborn is approximately 280mOsm. When a solution has a higher osmolar­ity, it is considered hyperosmolar. The effects cause cells to shrink when a uid moves from inside to the outside of the cell. This response occurs in order to
Table 65.3 PIV Scale (Peripheral Intravenous Extravasation Assessment scale): necrosis and clinical severe degrees (adapted from Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, February 2013)
Third degree: Severe extravasation (mild necrosis, limited small areas)
Fourth degree: Extreme extravasation (severe necrosis and large area, sometimes circumferential)
• Moderate swelling 25–50% of the insertion site
• Cold skin
• Whitening
• Blistering
• Significant swelling,
more than 50% around the insertion site
• Inltration of
blistering and irritating products
• Cold skin
• wWhitening
• Skin injury
• >Blistering
• Insertion site pain
• Blood recirculation time greater than 4s
increase the osmolarity within the cell to balance with the high osmolarity of the serum. The opposite of this effect would be a hyperosmolar solution. In this situation, the uid would enter the cell in order to reduce the osmolarity of the cell to equal to the external one. In the extreme, this can result in cell lysis as the volume of the cell exceeds its capacity. Some preparations are classied as extremely hyperosmolar and one of them is the arginine hydrochloride, which is used in the evaluation of short stature and in the management of urea cycle disorders. The arginine extravasation rapidly induces necrosis and that is why it should be diluted to a 10% solution prior to infusion [24, 25].
Measuring the concentration of hydrogen ions and pH is another important consideration in assessing the risk of a drug, inltration, or extrava­sation. A normal arterial blood pH is between 7.35 and 7.45. As the pH of drugs deviates from this normal range, the risk of tissue injury is higher. As the number of hydrogen ions increases, the solu­tion will become more acidic. Most drugs have an acidic to neutral pH.Once medications move from 5 to 9 range, the risk of inammation and vascular injury increases signicantly. Drugs have a spe­cic mechanism of action that can cause cell dam­age in case of inltration or extravasation.
422
G. Ciprandi
Vasoactive drugs, such as dopamine, have effects

65.3.10 Treatments

on alpha receptors. If this drug is introduced into the tissues, this alpha stimulation will result in constriction of the capillary beds, which will sub­sequently reduce local blood ow. Local tissue will be deprived of oxygen, and an ischemic injury will ensue. Another group of drugs that have direct effects on tissues are electrolytes. Calcium is needed for the depolarization and contraction of smooth muscle. If a concentrated calcium solution is infused into the tissue, this can cause capillary constriction, through stimulation of smooth mus­cle, resulting in ischemic damage to the hypoper­fused tissue [26, 27].
The solubility of a drug can affect its contribu­tion to local tissue damage. The more lipophilic a drug is, the less water soluble, thus rendering site washing impractical and leading to high concen­trations of drugs located in relatively small areas of tissue which can lead to direct concentration­dependent tissue damage (Table65.4).
Table 65.4 Intravenous drugs
Not blistering or inert Irritants Monoclonal antibodies Bleomycin Amsacrine Daunomycin Asparaginase Carboplatin Cisplatin Doxorubicin Cytarabine Carmustine Dacarbazine Epirubicin Cladribine Cyclophosphamide Dactinomycin Idarubicin Fludarabine Cisplatin Daunorubicin Mitomycin Methotrexate Liposomal daunorubicin Docetaxel Vincristine Thiotepa Gemcitabine Etoposide Vindesine
Ifofosfamide Fluorouracil Vinblastine Irinotecan Mechlorethamine Vinorelbine Streptozocin Melphalan Actinomycin D Topotecan Mitoxantrone Mechlorethamine
Blistering drugs that bind to DNA
Blistering drugs that do not bind to DNA Irritating drugs • Alkylating agents: Carmustine, dacarbazine, ifosfamide, melphalan, thiotepa
• Alkylating agents: Maecloretamin
• Anthracycline: Doxorubicin, epirubicin, idarubicin
• Antibiotici antitumorali: Mitomicin; dactinomicin, mitoxantrone Vinca alkaloids: Vinblastine, vincristine, vinorelbine, vindesine, texani, paclitaxel, docetaxel
• Platinum derivatives: Carboplatin, cisplatin, oxaliplatin
• Inhibitors of topoisomerase II: Teniposide, etoposide
• Anthracycline: Liposomal doxorubicin, liposomal daunorubicin
• Inibitori della topoisomerasi I: Irinotecan, topotecan
Topical Treatments: Topical treatments are often used when talking about an open wound. These include nitroglycerin, silver sulfadia­zine, and dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO). These treatments promote a moist wound environ­ment, which reduces healing times, the likeli­hood of infection and prevents scarring.
Antidotes: Some blistering solutions may have a particular antidote which can be infused or injected into the affected area. This approach appears to be used most often for the treat­ment of chemotherapy extravasations.
Hyaluronidase: Subcutaneous injections of hyaluronidase can be used in an attempt to break down the connective tissue and facili­tate the absorption of extravasated uid in the vascular and lymphatic circulation. Administration within 1h of extravasation is recommended;
Blistering (with or without necrosis) Necrotizing
Oxaliplatin Liposomal
doxorubicin
Paclitaxel
65 Skin Necrosis inChildren: Physical andInfectious Causes
423
Saline ushing and liposuction: Both saline ush-out and liposuction are administered in order to remove extravasated uid before it can cause damage. As such, there is an implied requirement that these treatments be under­taken as soon as possible. Gault described both techniques, which can be administered alone or together, although various modica­tions to these techniques have also been reported [28].
• Saline lavage techniques generally involve skin incisions made in the extravasation lesion and syringe administration, injecting saline into each incision. The goal is for this process to clear the brew through the remaining inci­sion points. The process is sometimes pre­ceded by the injection of hyaluronidase to break down the hyaluronic acid in the connec­tive tissues, thus favoring the dispersion of the infusion. The procedure is often performed under local anesthesia, although general anes­thesia may sometimes be required, especially if liposuction is also to be performed.
• Liposuction is a minimally invasive surgical technique in which the cannula with side holes is inserted into the wound and subcutaneous uid and fat are aspirated.
Surgery: If less invasive treatments are unsuc­cessful and necrotic tissue is not resolved after a medium-/long-term period of treatment, the next step in the treatment pathway is surgical debridement (sharp debridement), plastic sur­gery minor/major interventions, or both. Hydrosurgery is another option easy to be used when necrosis shows irregular and indented contours which often can be quite difcult to debride with sharp methods. In newborn and small patients aged less than 3 years, this technique has some advantages such as a true tissue selectivity, great and safe handling in detaching the edges of the necro­sis due to extravasation, handling in complex contours such as extravasation, and a possible preservation of the underlying adnexal [29].
The purpose of debridement is the removal of
necrotic tissue (eschar), which accelerates wound healing. Typically it involves both a surgical
technique (the use of sharp instruments to remove the eschar performed under general anesthesia) and an enzymatic debridement (which promotes the removal of the eschar tissue). When a topical anesthesia is not possible to be performed due to the age of the patient, all the procedures could be performed at one time in the operating room: escharotomy, wound bed preparation, and imme­diate or delayed graft (with or without interposi­tion of a dermal substitute). We currently prefer the use of NPWT to accelerate direct or mediated adherence of the skin graft to the wound bed. If the appropriate timing of extravasation surgery is not yet clearly dened, and when it is not possi­ble to ascertain with certainty the uids and sol­utes responsible for extravasation, we advocate a “wait and see” conservative approach.
However, frequent patient follow-up is critical to identify early blisters or ulcers that require debridement or plastic surgery. Consultation by the plastic surgeon is recommended after extrav­asation of large volume vesicles, when a patient is in severe pain or if healing has not occurred within 1–3weeks after extravasation. A conser­vative approach is not appropriate if the child has persistent pain, edema and erythema, blistering, and necrosis which may hide an ulcer covered with enlarged eschar. In case of delay in treat­ment, permanent functional damage can occur due to a prolonged tissue exposure. When a sur­gical procedure is not performed at the proper time repeated debridement are required, larger excision is usually necessary, and partial thick­ness skin grafting or ap reconstruction are man­datory actions. The complex of clinical manifestations related to an increase in tissue pressure within a non-compressible space such as that of the muscle lodges covered by their own fascia is called as compartment syndrome. Compartment pressure measurement is useful in evaluating questionable compartment syndrome or in patients who have sensory blunting or are under general anesthesia. Normal pressure in a muscle compartment is less than 10–20mmHg.
Fasciotomy is recommended if pressure is greater than 30–45 mmHg; physiology studies show that a limb may be adequately perfused if the diastolic pressure is greater than 30 mmHg
424
G. Ciprandi
than the compartment. Therefore, the fasciotomy is indicated when the delta p between the dia­stolic pressure less that of the compartment var­ies between 20 and 30 mmHg. In children, diastolic pressure is low to easily bring a delta p less than 30mmHg. Therefore, the average blood pressure is used in pediatric patients [30, 31].
An increase in specic Prevention Culture, Training of Pediatric Health Care Teams, Protocols and Related Kits (ETK), immediate and not delayed assistance following the Operational Guide (OG), prompt plastic surgeon consultation, close monitoring of pediatric patients are the main objectives to be pursued. The reduction of necrosis caused by inltration and extravasation is based on the updating of the nursing and medical staff, on the positioning and on the management of a peripheral or central venous access. Difcult and complex patients (premature and newborn, patients with poor or fragile venous heritage) must be approached with ultrasound-guided positioning by expert anesthe­tists. In case of positioning a long-lasting CVC and choosing the type of catheter, the help of the interventional pediatric radiologist is essential.
Each hospital should draw up an updated pro­cedure on the management of extravasation and compose a team of experienced and trained per­sonnel who can manage this type of emergency and who can educate and sensitize the remaining health personnel. In our experience, both a skin care team and a wound prevention team are advo­cated because of the true experience with wounded children the components that deal with ES must have.
Immediate surgical management consists of two most frequently reported manoeuvers: post inci­sional washing and local debridement. However, signs of tissue and nervous ischemic damage and the rigidity of the limbs and extremities in griposis must be avoided promptly, since the cosmetic and functional sequelae arise very quickly. Fasciotomy is the only accepted treatment of compartment syn­drome and should be performed quickly after the diagnosis is made. Outcomes after fasciotomy are best when there is no delay in treatment. In few words, all observational and decision-making activ­ities must be taken with great timeliness and with­out time delays [3234].
Currently, although there are numerous studies on severely staged necrosis due to extravasation syndromes. But there aren’t available guidelines
increase in the complexity of pediatric patients, the increase in survival related to prematurity, the implementation of the efforts of intensive and sub­intensive technological activities on patients at high risk of life. In addition, there is no doubt that necro­sis occurring in these small and very small patients is challenging because of a multifactorial disease requiring a precision medicine approach [35].
65.4 SNSTIs (Severe Necrotizing
Soft Tissue Infections)

65.4.1 Introduction

Severe necrotizing soft tissue infections (SNSTIs) are widespread and systemic bacterial infections.
In more details, these are highly thrombotic subtype of disseminated intravascular coagula­tion that can accompany severe bacterial, and more rarely, viral infections. Neisseria meningiti­dis is most commonly associated with SNSTIs, even if many other infectious etiologies have been identied and among these Haemophilus inuenzae, Staphylococcus aureus, and Pneumococcus are described as responsible for necrotic skin damages.
Pediatric patients represent a fragile category also due to an immaturity of the immune system both of the surface and of the organ and organ­ism. This, therefore, makes it easy to understand how necrosis occur quickly and are immediately rapidly progressive. Prevention and wound hygiene must be appropriate, a diagnosis must be early done, and treatments must be targeted immediately to minimize disabilities but also the hypothesis of mortality. Beyond treatment with antibiotics administered on the basis of an anti­biogram and admission to neonatal and pediatric intensive care units for any resuscitation support, the surgical approach for debridement and a sur­gical toilet to be operated on are extremely important, to be performed in asepsis and in the operating room.
65 Skin Necrosis inChildren: Physical andInfectious Causes
Although the death rate of NSTI appears to have decreased in recent decades, it remains very high in the rst 3years of life and at 5–20%.
It is evident that necrotic lesions are the larg­est ever considering all pediatric ages. Brown necrosis is often bilateral from the onset and affecting both lower limbs, reaching to include the root of the limbs, the external genitalia, and other sites rich in lymphatic vessels and innerva­tion (Figs.65.4 and 65.5).
Crucial points are represented not only by the extension per area of representation but also by the depth. The deeper necrosis is due not only to septic emboli, which induce mechanical vascular occlusion, but also to the effect of cytotropic tox­ins. Purpura fulminans is a severe subtype of dis­seminated intravascular coagulation associated in the majority of the cases with meningococcal sep-
Fig. 65.4 Extensive multiple necrotic eschar affecting both lower limbs in a 9-year-old girl. The anterolateral surfaces of both the thigh and leg are affected
ticemia in children. The patient’s inammatory response to meningococcal septicemia activates the coagulation pathway, resulting in the develop­ment of numerous supercial as well as visceral thromboses. Supercial thromboses of the skin produce pathognomonic or maculopapular rashes that progress into areas of full- thickness necrosis. Thrombus formation within the viscera can result in the development of multiorgan failure. Because of its severity, prompt diagnosis and treatment of purpura fulminans are vital for patient survival.
SNSTIs can be yet evident as a connatal syn­drome in newborn with inherited decit of pro­tein- C due to homozygous or heterozygous mutations in the PROC or PROS1 genes.
425

65.4.2 Care

Frequently, plastic surgeons are consulted for the reconstruction of areas with full-thickness skin necrosis. The reconstructive process varies greatly based on soft tissues loss. Skin grafting, locoregional tissue transfer, and free tissue aps are all potential reconstructive strategies to be used depending on the site, width, and depth of the defect.
When skin grafting is the best option, large full-thickness wounds in the pediatric population can be difcult to manage because of limited donor site options for autografts and shortcom­ings of many skin graft substitutes.
Fig. 65.5 The depth of damage after surgical necrosec­tomy is visible. Effect of both ischemic actions for vascu­lar occlusion and for endotoxin damage from Neisseria meningitidis
Also of particular gravity are the plaques of necrosis near the junctional areas or the natural folds of the body (groin, axillary fold, ankle, pop­liteal cavity) and those that have aspects extended to the entire circumference of a limb, at the digi­tal extremities (hands and feet).
The decrease in mortality results in an increase in the number of surviving children. When start-
426
G. Ciprandi
ing to treat infectious necrosis, it is always neces­sary to consider an approach with “tissue sparing procedure” techniques, since the procedures are all aimed at avoiding outcomes and severe distant sequelae that are often disabling. There are sug­gestions that a skin-sparing approach may result in a decreased need for skin transplants, which could potentially improve the quality of life in survivors [36].
The prognosis of a growing organism must always consider that children have in fact a fourth dimension (body growth) which drastically places the emphasis on how to promote a good prognosis quoad vitam but also how to pursue a good and future prognosis quoad valetudinem.
Improving the prognosis means performing targeted toilets, pursuing a debridement that is careful to spare otherwise healthy tissue, even when it may appear compromised by the infec­tion [37].
All procedures are in fact guided by ultra­sound aspects and MRI images. In pediatric age, it is preferable to perform more successive necro­sectomy sessions under targeted antibiotic ther­apy rather than the removal of large tissue segments.
The improvement of necrosectomy techniques which in pediatric age is performed in many cases with microsurgical debridement technique (use of the operating microscope) can greatly benet the prognosis of NSTI.
The rst damage resulting from serious mutila­tions and disabling outcomes that may require long and repeated sessions of FKT as well as of tutorial tools and prosthetic aids are felt by the entire family. As a result, the child can experience psychological stress and pain, both of which are able of dangerously reducing the pain threshold.
An important factor that determines the extreme attention of the plastic surgeon in the removal of tissues is the consideration of possible future scarring events. Each removed tissue will in fact be lled with a volume of scar and harder tissues, they will be difcult to move later in the case of having to make local gliding aps.
In other cases, post-necrosectomy scars are not only a cosmetic problem but also a func­tional one. When scar bands appear in the site of previous necrosis plaques, sometimes hypertro-
phic or keloid, the main enemy is the retraction that can prevent movements due to a marked retraction. In these cases, revision operations may require the completion of the removal of the necrosis bands, of the scarring, plastics with opposing aps, grafts, local aps, or transposi­tion of aps with microsurgical techniques [38].

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Neonatal Pressure Ulcer

ChristianHerlin
66

66.1 Introduction

The structure of a premature newborn’s skin is very different from that of the adult.
In the adult, the stratum corneum is composed of about 20 layers and has an important protec­tive function. However, in the premature baby, this stratum is non-existent or minimal (0–3 lay­ers). The thinness of these external layers is one of the principal sources of vulnerability (see Fig.66.1).
The stratum corneum normally protects the body from toxins and infections, enables thermo­regulation, and controls transepidermal water loss.
In the premature newborn, in addition to the thinness of the external layers, there is also a lack of collagen and elastin in the supercial dermal layers. This considerably increases the risk of pressure ulcers, with spontaneous oedema increasing the cutaneous ischaemia.
In the hospital environment, the incidence of neonatal pressure ulcers (NPUs) is signicant, affecting one in four babies in the neonatal inten­sive care unit (NICU) [1, 2].
Four percent of babies who have been treated in a NICU are left with a scar [3]. In the majority of cases, these skin lesions are minor [4].
The signicant incidence of NPUs in the NICU can be explained by the following risk fac­tors [5]:
C. Herlin (*) Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Wond Healing Unit, Montpellier University, Montpellier, France e-mail: c-herlin@chu-montpellier.fr
© The Author(s) 2024 L. Téot et al. (eds.), Skin Necrosis, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-60954-1_66
429
430
Newborn Premature
The majority of the
;
they normally have
C. Herlin
Fig. 66.1 Comparison of normal newborn and premature skin. The stratum corneum is absent or very underdeveloped in the premature skin
• The immaturity of the skin
• The restriction of the baby’s voluntary move­ments (e.g. due to a central venous line, mechanical ventilation, etc.)
• The hot and humid environment
• The use or not of invasive ventilation
This chapter describes the main sources of
pressure ulcers in the newborn and premature baby, their characteristic features, the therapeutic principles, and the potential sequelae.
stratum corneum layers are missing
a protective role.
For Stage 3 and 4 pressure ulcers, treatment is very similar to that of the adult, but the possibili­ties available in terms of wound cleaning are often reduced as the baby cannot be moved.
Throughout the liquefactive necrotic stage, the use of silver sulphadiazine as an alternative to hydrogels seems to us to be a possibility. The dressings need to be substantial, thus allowing for additional discharge.

66.3.2 Surgical Treatment

66.2 Risk Assessment Scales

There are many different types of risk assessment scales, most of which have not been tested on a large scale. The Braden Q Scale [1] and the Neonatal Skin Risk Assessment Scale [6] seem to be reliable tools in terms of sensitivity and specicity.
66.3 Principles ofTreatment

66.3.1 Topic Treatment

For Stage 2 pressure ulcers, the use of hydrocol­loids seems to us to be appropriate in the major­ity of cases.
It is reserved for severe cases. It uses the classic reconstruction ladder (skin graft, local and dis­tant aps). Taking account of the healing capacity of the newborn, the ap realization is often per­formed in a second step during infant growth.
66.4 Main Areas Aected

66.4.1 The Nose

The nose is the main area affected, representing half of all NPUs [5]. This has been seen since the 1980s, with the development of nasal continuous positive airway pressure (NCPAP).
66 Neonatal Pressure Ulcer
431
According to different studies, nasal lesion incidence is between 20% and 60% in premature treated with NCPAP [7, 8]. The majority of occurrence is due to the technique being incor­rectly used and/or poor monitoring of skin toler­ance [9].
The pressure ulcer most often involves the philtrum, the tip of the nose, the soft triangle, or the nasal septum.
A deformation or a change in function results, which is usually temporary. However, cases have unfortunately been reported in which columellar necrosis has led to a signicant disorder in growth.
Figure 66.2 shows a typical lesion due to excessive pressure from an endotracheal tube, which, in bending the soft triangle, has resulted in ischaemia.
Figures 66.3 and 66.4 show two similar cases of columellar necrosis, at different ages. In Fig.66.4, note the asymmetrical character of the lesion and the consequences on the development of the tip of the nose.
66.4.2 The Foot andLeg
Here, the lesions are genuine pressure ulcers as seen in the bedridden or the paralysed. The main areas affected are the malleoli and the heels.
Figs. 66.3 and
66.4 Lesions linked to
excessive pressure during NCPAP.The pressure ulcer especially affects the junction of the columella and the apex
Fig. 66.2 Soft triangle pressure ulcer caused by exces­sive pressure from the endotracheal tube