Effect of topical treatment with skin barrier-enhancing emollients on nosocomial infections in preterm infants in Bangladesh: a randomised controlled trial

Influence of Sunflower Seed Oil on the Skin Barrier Function of Preterm Infants: A Randomized Controlled Trial

“…However, the study population showed a high infection and mortality rate in both control and intervention groups [5,6,7]. Moreover, these findings are very difficult to compare with our data, because of differences concerning trial design, outcomes, study population and environmental factors.…”

“…Indications of beneficial effects of SSO, which is rich in linoleic acid, on skin barrier primarily come from in vitro studies and studies in rat or adult skin [9,11,12,13]. The current literature on the effect of oils and emollients in preterm infants mainly focuses on clinical parameters, like neurological development, skin condition, infection and mortality rate [5,6,7,10]. One study in very preterm infants showed that topical ointment decreased TEWL, without documenting other skin functional parameters [14].…”

“…Recent studies concluded that daily massage with SSO might reduce the infection rate and/or mortality and morbidity of preterm infants [5,6,7]. However, the study population showed a high infection and mortality rate in both control and intervention groups [5,6,7].…”

“…Emollients and natural oils are being increasingly used for neonatal skin care in developing and developed countries to support skin barrier maturation in preterm infants [4,5,6,7,8]. This practice is predominantly based on tradition and empirical evidence, in addition to the fact that natural oils are widely popular and easily available at low cost [7,9].…”

“…Several beneficial effects of SSO were shown in mice and adults, providing only implications for neonatal care, yet no studies investigating the effect of SSO on skin functional parameters have been conducted in preterm infants so far [9,11,12,13]. Scientific evidence of the effect of oils on preterm infants primarily comes from studies concentrating on the incidence of nosocomial infections, morbidity and mortality, thermoregulation and growth of newborns or skin condition [5,6,7,8,10,14,15]. To understand the direct effects of SSO on the skin barrier, functional parameters have to be objectively assessed to fully characterize skin barrier function [1,16,17,18].…”