Improving Skin Integrity in Babies Diagnosed with Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome.

Neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) is becoming a national epidemic. Neonates with NAS display myriad signs during withdrawal from the drugs they were exposed to in utero. One sign is skin excoriation, as well as other skin injuries. While care of the neonate experiencing NAS has been well documented in the literature, the care of the skin of that neonate has not. The purpose of this monograph is to discuss the current literature on neonatal abstinence syndrome, to describe the anatomy and physiology of neonatal skin, and to make recommendations for the prevention and care of the most common neonatal skin injuries seen in infants exhibiting NAS.