Validation of a Wound Tool for Assessment of Surgical Wounds in Infants

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND SIGNIFICANCESurgical wounds and their management are a critical part of the care of hospitalized infants in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs). [1][2][3] Multiple factors are associated with wound complications, such as the underlying pathology; nature, length, and number of surgical procedures; preoperative stay in an NICU (compared with a neonatal or surgical ward); occurrence of perioperative sepsis; provision of perioperative blood transfusions; and gestational age of the patient. [4][5][6][7][8] The underlying causes for many of these factors have