INTEGRATIVE REVIEW ON THE CONSEQUENCES OF DEVELOPING SKIN AS THE FIRST IMMUNOLOGICAL BARRIER IN EARLY BIRTHS

Abstract

Introduction: Human immunity is typified by innate and adaptive immunity. In that case, the defense is nonspecific and made by structures naturally present in the body, among which, the skin takes part and plays an important role as a barrier. In preterm newborns, however, immature skin, is not fully developed when contacting the extrauterine environment and performing its purpose, and the aim of the present study is to identify the consequences of immature skin on the immune system of premature infants. Method: For that, an integrative literature review was carried out through the PubMed database with the search terms preterm newborn, premature and immature skin, concatenated with the Boolean operator AND, along with the qualitative analysis of the material. Results: In the search, 56 studies were found, of which 5 were analyzed after applying the exclusion criteria. Discussion: It was noticed, by the observation of the research, that the fragility of the skin of premature babies is a consensus and that the epidermis still in development allows invasion by pathological agents more quickly and easily, among other problems. Such injuries are conditioned by the absence of corneal cells in the outer periphery of the epidermis of these borns, not allowing them the protection of a non-sorbent barrier to the organism. Conclusion: Thus, it was concluded that there are consequences such as fluid loss, electrolyte dysregulation and body temperature, mechanical damage and a higher risk of infection or intoxication due to the fragility of the skin and its inability to act as a barrier, conditioned by the non-development of the corneal layer. of the epidermis.