Skin Injury

Pulse oximeter probes are used to continuously monitor oxygen levels in newborn babies in intensive care. These probes are usually attached to the baby's hand or foot with adhesive tape and must be moved to a new site every few hours. Repeatedly sticking and removing adhesive can damage the delicate skin of premature babies. The investigators have developed a new way to secure the probe without any adhesive touching the skin: the probe's adhesive side is attached to a soft, self-adhering (cohesive) bandage that wraps around the baby's hand or foot. The bandage sticks only to itself, not to the skin. The purpose of this study is to find out whether securing the probe with a cohesive bandage protects the skin better than the standard method of taping the probe directly to the skin. Sixty-four premature babies (born at 32 to 36 weeks) will be randomly placed in one of two groups. In both groups, the probe will be placed on each hand and foot for four hours in turn, for a total of 16 hours. The skin under the probe will be photographed and scored by two nurses who do not know which method was used.

This randomized controlled trial aims to evaluate the effectiveness of topical paraffin oil application in preventing tourniquet-related skin lesions in patients undergoing upper extremity surgery. Pneumatic tourniquets are commonly used to provide a bloodless surgical field; however, they may cause skin complications such as erythema, edema, abrasions, blisters, and burns. In this study, adult patients undergoing elective upper extremity surgery will be randomly assigned to either an intervention group receiving topical paraffin oil application in addition to routine protective dressing or a control group receiving routine care only. Skin integrity will be assessed immediately after tourniquet removal and at 30 and 60 minutes postoperatively using standardized skin assessment criteria. The findings of this study are expected to contribute to the development of effective, simple, and cost-efficient strategies to prevent tourniquet-related skin complications and improve patient safety and postoperative comfort.