Study of the features of the skin condition of the back in healthy children at different age periods

INTRODUCTION: Study of age-specific and topographic features of the skin cover of the back in children and adolescents is an important aspect for understanding physiological processes of this period. Identifying the features of the skin condition will improve the diagnosis and prevention of skin diseases in pediatric practice. AIM: To study the distinctive features of the condition of various skin areas of the back in children at different age periods. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study included 46 healthy children and adolescents (27 children, 19 adolescents) aged 7 to 17 years: 25 boys and 21 girls. The following research methods were used: anthropometry, visual clinical examination of the skin of the back, photofixation of the skin, Adams’s test, thermometry, laser Doppler flowmetry, elastometry. RESULTS: Visual clinical examination of the skin of the back showed no statistically significant differences in the incidence of signs of connective tissue dysplasia (р 0.05). In children aged 7–11 years, temperature and microcirculation parameters were mostly stably the same in all areas of examination of the back skin. In adolescents, differences in the temperature and blood flow parameters were observed depending on the examination area: decreased skin perfusion in the lower back along the scapular lines on the left by 7.0% (р = 0.0001) and on the right by 6.4% (р = 0.0002), along the paravertebral line on the right by 4.0% (р = 0.02); a mild increase in temperature in the projection of the paravertebral lines in the middle parts of the back (by 0.1°С, р 0.05). The elasticity index had a statistically significant decrease in the lower part relative to the upper one in the projection of the paravertebral lines both in children (by 10%, р = 0.001) and in adolescents (by 10.0%, р = 0.01). In adolescents, the temperature of the skin of the back, capillary blood flow and elasticity were statistically significantly lower than in children (р 0.0001, р = 0.006, р 0.0001, respectively). The skin temperature and elasticity index in all the examination areas correlated with age and had an inverse relationship. The blood flow of the skin of the back had a reliable inverse relationship with age only in the projection of the paravertebral lines at the level of the upper and lower parts. CONCLUSION: In healthy children and adolescents aged 7–17 years, age has a pronounced effect on the condition of the skin of the back (temperature, blood flow, elasticity, visual picture). The features of the topography of the study of the blood flow and temperature are important for the adolescent age. Differentiation of elasticity figures depending on the level of study are characteristic of both children and adolescents.