Neonatal extravasation injuries: neonatal unit reflection and literature review.

Extravasation injury is tissue infiltration and injury related to drugs or infusates. Preterm infants are most susceptible due to many factors related to their prematurity. Our aim was to report on the prevalence of extravasation injury in our neonatal unit to attract attention to the existence of this problem in the neonatal units. This is an observational, longitudinal, hospital-based study, conducted in the period from February 2012 to February 2019. All preterm infants admitted to Sea Port Hospital Neonatal Unit, Port Sudan City, Sudan, were included. Infants with any other congenital or transient skin diseases were ruled out. From 434 preterm infants admitted, 249 (57.4%) infants were affected and 28 (11.2%) of them were injured significantly. We concluded that neonatal extravasation injuries (including severe forms) are significantly observed in our neonatal unit, and measures to screen for, avoid, and treat this morbidity, should be implemented.