Silver-based dressing in an extremely low-birth-weight infant: a case study.

BACKGROUND: Dressings containing silver have been considered dangerous for neonatal patients. Many practitioners are hesitant to place wound applications (with or without silver) on premature infants based on the potential risk of absorption and toxicity. Few studies have been conducted looking at long-term effects of current dressing products in the neonate. CASE: We used a flexible polyurethane foam containing ionic silver to treat the skin breakdown in a 23-week-old infant. CONCLUSION: The silver foam dressing was safely and successfully used in the treatment of this extremely low-birth-weight infant with skin breakdown.