Lesioni da “capello attorcigliato” in un lattante

Abstract

Hair thread tourniquet syndrome is a paediatric condition due to a hair or cotton thread from infants' clothes that gets tangled around the extremities of the body, tightening the skin until it causes a clean cut. The injury could develop into ischemia with the risk of amputation and infection. It is a rare condition that is an emergency because of the need to remove the constricting cause as soon as possible and preserve vascular flow. Initially, the lesion presents as a painful skin swelling, then may evolve into an ischemic and necrotic area. The most affected sites are the toes and fingers and more rarely the genitals. The treatment consists in the removal of the hair or thread narrowing the extremity as soon as possible. This case reminds this rare condition and stresses the relevance of visiting the children completely naked as condition for a full clinical evaluation of all the body segments.