Nicolosi B, Parente E, Petronici A, Fioravanti L, Cavalieri S, Nobile V, Reggiardo G, Coletta R, Moroni M, Ciprandi G, et al.
Journal of wound care. Date of publication 2025 Sep 2;volume 34(9):732-738.
1. J Wound Care. 2025 Sep 2;34(9):732-738. doi: 10.12968/jowc.2025.0178.
Moisture-associated skin damage and its management in neonatal and infant
populations: a retrospective study in Italy.
Nicolosi B(1), Parente E(1), Petronici A(1), Fioravanti L(2), Cavalieri S(3),
Nobile V(4), Reggiardo G(5), Coletta R(6), Moroni M(7), Ciprandi G(8).
Author information:
(1)Healthcare Professions Department, Meyer Children's Hospital IRCCS, Florence,
Italy.
(2)Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, University Hospital of Careggi, Florence,
Italy.
(3)Direction of Health Professional, IRCCS Istituto Giannina Gaslini, Genoa,
Italy.
(4)R&D Department, Complife Italia S.r.l., 27028 San Martino Siccomario, PV,
Italy.
(5)Department of Biostatistics, Clinical Validation from Biopharmaceutical
Findings (CVBF), Pavia, Italy.
(6)Department of Pediatric Surgery, Meyer Children's Hospital IRCCS, Florence,
Italy.
(7)Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Meyer Children's Hospital IRCCS, Florence,
Italy.
(8)President Pediatric Wound Care Masterclass Foundation, Rome, Italy.
OBJECTIVE: Moisture-associated skin damage (MASD) is a significant concern in
the paediatric population, particularly among neonates, who exhibit the highest
incidence due to their highly sensitive and fragile skin. The aim of the study
was to identify the most effective treatment.
METHOD: A retrospective observational study was conducted at Meyer Children's
Hospital IRCCS, Florence, Italy. Data from infants admitted to the neonatal
intensive care unit of the hospital were collected from electronic health
records. Demographic, clinical and nursing data were analysed to identify the
key clinical features of MASD lesions, including their severity, healing time,
and the relationship between MASD lesions and treatment approaches.
RESULTS: The cohort comprised 102 infants (mean age 2.92 months).
Incontinence-associated dermatitis (IAD) accounted for the majority (78.4%) of
MASD lesions. Among patients with IAD, most exhibited persistent redness (26.3%)
or skin loss (47.5%) without clinical signs of infection. In contrast,
peristomal MASD cases constituted 21.6% of the total, with the majority
classified according to the Study on Peristomal Skin Alterations (SACS) 2.0 as
L2 erosive lesions (63.6%), predominantly occurring in quadrants 2, 3 or 5. A
novel treatment (Vulnamin; Professional Dietetics S.p.A., Italy) was used to
manage MASD lesions in 64.7% of patients. This innovative treatment
significantly (p<0.001) reduced healing time by an average of 2.4 days and
decreased the odds of relapse by 5.3 times compared with traditional treatments.
CONCLUSION: The findings of this study showed that use of effective MASD
therapies can reduce healing time and relapse rate, leading to decreased nursing
hours and associated costs.
DOI: 10.12968/jowc.2025.0178
PMID: 40906644 [Indexed for MEDLINE]
Conflict of interest statement: Declaration of interest: This study was
supported by funds from the Italian Ministry of Health. The authors have no
conflicts of interest.
