A prospective case series was studied to assess the potential for complete healing of wounds among patients with advanced illness referred to a regional palliative care program in Toronto, Canada. Two hundred and eighty-two patients, of which 148 were primarily diagnosed with cancer and 134 with non cancer advanced illness, were assessed and followed until their deaths. On the baseline initial ...

William T Wake, MD, fAAfP, is a Physician in the Department of Family Medicine and Department of Continuing Care at the Baldwin Park Medical Center in CA. E-mail: [email protected]. Introduction Pressure ulcer treatment is one of many aspects of patient care in which nursing care interfaces directly with clinician-provided medical services. Traditionally, the treatment of pressure ulcers ha...

Background: New methods of defining an early grade of pressure ulcer could have great economic benefit to both patient and health service. Objectives: The objective of the study was to find out whether pressure ulcers can be assessed and classified by using computer image analysis of hue, saturation and intensity (HSI) in order to make a prognostic assessment of early skin damage. Aims: To dete...

Pressure ulcers are common among selected patient populations. Early therapeutic intervention may result in a decrease in the number of ulcers that progress to a later stage. The efficacy of specific skin creams for the treatment and prevention of early stage pressure ulcers has not previously been evaluated. We compared the healing rates of paired, early stage pressure ulcers treated with eith...

Background Hospitalization causes many pressure ulcers and has important implications for the patient and the economy. Regional hospital Horsens is one of 5 hospitals in Denmark participating in ‘The Danish Safer Hospital Programme’ where one aim is to reduce and prevent pressure ulcers. The target for the hospital is to reduce pressure ulcers to less than 5% and the aim is to, asses the risk o...

Pressure ulcers can lead to pain, disfigurement, and slow recovery from comorbid conditions. They interfere with activities of daily living, predispose to osteomyelitis and septicemia (1), and are strongly associated with longer hospital stays and mortality. Frailty and chronic illness, both common among older adults, predispose to pressure ulcers (1–3). The prevalence of pressure ulcers is 10%...

Pressure ulcers are a significant health care problem for institutionalized patients, especially for the geriatric population [1]. Data from the United States indicates that about 11% of all hospital admissions and up to 25% of persons in skilled care and nursing home facilities have pressure ulcers [3-5]. In certain high-risk populations such as elderly patients with femoral fractures or hospi...