A New Approach to Reduce Pressure Ulcers and Improve Health of Scoliosis Surgery Patients

Background: Spinal fusion is the common form of corrective surgery for scoliosis, and it is often accompanied with the occurrence of pressure ulcer development. New research and approaches are needed to address the incidence of peptic ulcer in surgical patients. Objectives: The study was designed to reduce/prevent the incidence of pressure sores and to improve the health of patients undergoing scoliosis surgery. Methods: 130 patients with scoliosis surgery were randomly assigned into two groups: 65 patients in the training group and control group, respectively. The patients in the training group received a pre-surgery visit with adaptive training on prone position prior to their surgery, while the control group received no such training. Surgery preparation time and total time in the surgical room were recorded for all patients. The incidence and size of red skin and pressure sores due to scoliosis surgery were also measured and recorded upon surgeries. Results: A comparative analysis showed that a pre-surgical visit to the surgical room has significantly reduced the preparation time prior to surgery by up to 15 minutes for patients in test group, which led to an ostensible reduction of the total time for the day-of-surgery. The implementation of a pre-set optimal prone position helped test patients to reduce the incidence of pressure sores significantly from over 33.8% (control group) to less than 14% (test group, p<0.05). In particular, the optimal setting of the prone position with soft gel pats and cushion has effectively protected patients from serious facial damage as a result of a lengthy surgical process. Conclusion: A simple arrangement of a pre-surgical visit with adaptive training for optimal prone position to scoliosis patients could have important impacts on reducing the incidence of pressure sore and improving patients’ health condition.