Risk Prevention for Pressure Ulcers

Risk assessment tools for the prevention of pressure ulcers.

BACKGROUND Pressure ulcer risk assessment is a component of the assessment process used to identify individuals at risk of developing a pressure ulcer. Use of a risk assessment tool is recommended by many international pressure ulcer prevention guidelines however it is not known whether using a risk assessment tool makes a difference to patient outcomes. A review was conducted to clarify the ro...

Guidelines for the prevention of pressure ulcers.

Pressure ulcers--prevention of pressure related damage.

Pressure ulcers (or pressure sores, bedsores, decubiti or decubitis ulcers) are areas of localised damage or trauma to the skin and underlying tissue, caused by pressure, friction or shear. They generally occur over bony prominences such as the base of the spine, heels and hips and are most common in people with impaired mobility, spinal cord injuries, severe acute illness (patients in ICU) and...

Prevention and treatment of pressure ulcers.

The prevention and treatment of pressure ulcers continues to present a challenge across acute and long-term care settings, and costs the NHS up to pound2.64 billion annually. As well as causing a reduced quality of life for sufferers, they can prove to be fatal. The complexity of the exact causes of skin breakdown and accurate risk assessment has proved problematic to fully understanding this c...

Prevention and management of pressure ulcers.

Pressure ulcers represent complex wounds that are difficult to prevent or manage. Guidelines for prevention include identifying patients at risk, reducing the effect of pressure, friction, shear forces, and assessing co-morbidities such as nutritional status. Management should follow eight treatment strategies including accurately assessing the ulcer, relieving pressure, assessing pain and nutr...