Major full thickness skin burn injuries in premature neonate twins

Burns in neonates have been reported following the use of pulse oximeters, various electrodes, chemical disinfecting agents and phototherapy blankets. Burn injuries in premature neonates are very rare and there have been no reports on major full skin thickness injuries. This case reports on preterm neonate male twins delivered at a Community Hospital. After the delivery they were placed on water warmers for 15-20 min and then transported into incubators. Burn injuries were noticed 1 h after the delivery. Infant One, weight 1500 g, had an injury of 20% TBSA on his dorsum, waist and buttocks. The other infant, weight 1835 g, had an injury of 14% TBSA on the same areas. The infants were transported to the University Hospital. At the seventh day after the injury they recovered from respiratory distress and surgical procedures started. The eschar was excised deep to fascia and wounds were grafted with 0.1 mm thickness skin grafts harvested from the thigh and cut into islets. Autografts were protected by overlay with fresh allograft harvested from the twins' father. Surgery procedures were performed in two steps, each second day, not exceeding 10% of total body area during excision. Donor sites healed at the eighth day after the surgery. Burn wounds healed gradually by way of spontaneous replacement of allograft and wound closure by spontaneous epithelization from the autograft islets. Eighteen days after the surgery all the grafted wounds were found epithelized. We conclude that in premature neonates relatively low temperatures may cause deep burn injuries. We recommend the delivery of preterm childbirths at well equipped facilities with staff qualified in nursing of premature neonates. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd and ISBI. All rights reserved.