Project description:To determine the efficacy of skin protection wheelchair seat cushions in preventing pressure ulcers in the elderly nursing home population.Clinical trial with participants assigned at random to a skin protection or segmented foam cushion. Two hundred thirty-two participants were recruited between June 2004 and May 2008 and followed for 6 months or until pressure ulcer incidence.Twelve nursing homes.Nursing home residents aged 65 and older who were using wheelchairs for 6 or more hours per day and had a Braden score of 18 or less and a combined Braden activity and mobility score of 5 or less. Participants were recruited from a referred sample.All participants were provided with a fitted wheelchair and randomized into skin protection (SPC, n=113) or segmented foam (SFC, n=119) cushion groups. The SPC group received an air, viscous fluid and foam, or gel and foam cushion. The SFC group received a 7.6-cm crosscut foam cushion.Pressure ulcer incidence over 6 months for wounds near the ischial tuberosities (IT ulcers) were measured. Secondary analysis was performed on combined IT ulcers and ulcers over the sacrum and coccyx (sacral ulcers).One hundred eighty participants reached a study end point, and 42 were lost to follow-up. Ten did not receive the intervention. There were eight (6.7%) IT ulcers in the SFC group and one (0.9%) in the SPC group (P=.04). There were 21 (17.6%) combined IT and sacral ulcers in the SFC group and 12 (10.6%) in the SPC group (P=.14).Skin protection cushions used with fitted wheelchairs lower pressure ulcer incidence for elderly nursing home residents and should be used to help prevent pressure ulcers.
Project description:When immobile or neuropathic patients are supported by beds or chairs, their soft tissues undergo deformations that can cause pressure ulcers. Current support surfaces that redistribute under-body pressures at vulnerable body sites have not succeeded in reducing pressure ulcer prevalence. Here we show that adding a supporting lateral pressure can counter-act the deformations induced by under-body pressure, and that this 'pressure equalisation' approach is a more effective way to reduce ulcer-inducing deformations than current approaches based on redistributing under-body pressure. A finite element model of the seated pelvis predicts that applying a lateral pressure to the soft tissue reduces peak von Mises stress in the deep tissue by a factor of 2.4 relative to a standard cushion (from 113 kPa to 47 kPa)-a greater effect than that achieved by using a more conformable cushion, which reduced von Mises stress to 75 kPa. Combining both a conformable cushion and lateral pressure reduced peak von Mises stresses to 25 kPa. The ratio of peak lateral pressure to peak under-body pressure was shown to regulate deep tissue stress better than under-body pressure alone. By optimising the magnitude and position of lateral pressure, tissue deformations can be reduced to that induced when suspended in a fluid. Our results explain the lack of efficacy in current support surfaces and suggest a new approach to designing and evaluating support surfaces: ensuring sufficient lateral pressure is applied to counter-act under-body pressure.
Project description:Infection in severe pressure ulcers can lead to sepsis with a 6-month mortality as high as 68%.Operative records of 142 consecutive operative debridements on 60 patients in a dedicated wound healing inpatient unit were reviewed, from the Wound Electronic Medical Record, for identification of key steps in debridement technique, mortality, unexpected returns, and time to discharge following debridement.The mean age of the patients was 73.1 years, and 45% were men. Most wounds (53%) were located on the hip (ischial or trochanteric); others were on the sacrum (32%) and the heels (14%). The mean initial wound area prior to debridement was 14.0 cm(2), and 83% of debridements were performed on stage IV pressure ulcers. The postoperative hospital stay averaged 4.1 days. Key steps in the technique included (1) exposure of areas of undermining by excising overlying tissue; (2) removal of callus from wound edges; (3) removal of all grossly infected tissue; and (4) obtaining a biopsy of the deep tissue after debridement of all nonviable or infected tissue for culture and pathology to determine the presence of infection, fibrosis, and granulation tissue. There was one death 9 days post-debridement of a sacral ulcer and one unplanned return to the operating room for bleeding 8 days post-debridement.Operative debridement of pressure ulcers is safe, despite the medical co-morbidities in patients with severe pressure ulcers. Proper debridement technique may prevent sepsis and death in patients with multiple co-morbid conditions.
Project description:BackgroundDespite being considered preventable, ulcers due to pressure affect between 30 and 50% of patients at high and very high risk and susceptibility, especially those hospitalized under critical care. Despite a lack of evidence over the efficacy in prevention against ulcers due to pressure, hourly repositioning in critical care as an intervention is used with more or less frequency to alleviate pressure on patients' tissues. This brings up the objective of our study, which is to evaluate the efficacy in prevention of ulcers due to pressure acquired during hospitalization, specifically regarding two frequency levels of repositioning or manual posture switching in adults hospitalized in different intensive care units in different Colombian hospitals.MethodsA nurse-applied cluster randomized controlled trial of parallel groups (two branches), in which 22 eligible ICUs (each consisting of 150 patients), will be randomized to a high-frequency level repositioning intervention or to a conventional care (control group). Patients will be followed until their exit from each cluster. The primary result of this study is originated by regarding pressure ulcers using clusters (number of first ulcers per patient, at the early stage of progression, first one acquired after admission for 1000 days). The secondary results include evaluating the risk index on the patients' level (Hazard ratio, 95% IC) and a description of repositioning complications. Two interim analyses will be performed through the course of this study. A statistical difference between the groups < 0.05 in the main outcome, the progression of ulcers due to pressure (best or worst outcome in the experimental group), will determine whether the study should be put to a halt/determine the termination of the study.ConclusionThis study is innovative in its use of clusters to advance knowledge of the impact of repositioning as a prevention strategy against the appearance of ulcers caused by pressure in critical care patients. The resulting recommendations of this study can be used for future clinical practice guidelines in prevention and safety for patients at risk.Trial registrationPENFUP phase-2 was Registered in Clinicaltrials.gov ( NCT04604665 ) in October 2020.
Project description:Pressure ulcers/injuries (PrUs), a critical concern for nursing homes (NH), are responsible for chronic wounds, amputations, septic infections, and premature deaths. PrUs occur most commonly in older adults and NH residence is a risk factor for their development, with at least one of every nine U.S. NH residents experiencing a PrU and many NHs having high incidence and prevalence rates, in some instances well over 20%. PrU direct treatment costs are greater than prevention costs, making prevention-focused protocols critical. Current PrU prevention protocols recommend repositioning residents at moderate, high, and severe risk every 2 h. The advent of visco-elastic (VE) high-density foam support-surfaces over the past decade may now make it possible to extend the repositioning interval to every 3 or 4 h without increasing PrU development. The TEAM-UP (Turn Everyone And Move for Ulcer Prevention) study aims to determine: 1) whether repositioning interval can be extended for NH residents without compromising PrU incidence and 2) how changes in medical severity interact with changes in risk level and repositioning schedule to predict PrU development.In this proposed cluster randomized study, 9 NHs will be randomly assigned to one of three repositioning intervals (2, 3, or 4 h) for a 4-week period. Each enrolled site will use a single NH-wide repositioning interval as the standard of care for residents at low, moderate, and high risk of PrU development (N?=?951) meeting the following criteria: minimum 3-day stay, without PrUs, no adhesive allergy, and using VE support surfaces (mattresses). An FDA-cleared patient monitoring system that records position/movement of these residents via individual wireless sensors will be used to visually cue staff when residents need repositioning and document compliance with repositioning protocols.This study will advance knowledge about repositioning frequency and clinically assessed PrU risk level in relation to PrU incidence and medical severity. Outcomes of this research will contribute to future guidelines for more precise preventive nursing practices and refinement of PrU prevention guidelines.Clinical Trial Registration: NCT02996331 .