Excessive extracellular matrix degradation caused by the hyperfunction of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) has been implicated in the failure of pressure ulcers healing. EMMPRIN, as a widely expressed protein, has emerged as an important regulator of MMP activity. We hypothesize that EMMPRIN affects the process of pressure ulcer healing by modulating MMP activity. In the rat pressure ulcer mode...

Standardized assessment instruments are deemed important for estimating pressure ulcer risk. Today, more than 40 so-called pressure ulcer risk assessment scales are available but still there is an ongoing debate about their usefulness. From a measurement point of view pressure ulcer (PU) risk assessment scales have serious limitations. Empirical evidence supporting the validity of PU risk asses...

Hospitals in the US are increasingly concerned with the rising number of hospital-acquired pressure ulcers. To reduce its 2002-2003 average hospital-acquired pressure ulcer prevalence rate of 9.2%, a regional medical center in southeastern US initiated a process improvement and education program. Quarterly pressure ulcer prevalence studies were conducted and the Medical Intensive Care Unit was ...

Pressure ulcer prevalence is frequently cited as a factor used to determine the quality of nursing care and is used as a proxy measure for nursing home quality. This paper reports the results of the organisational study conducted as a subcomponent of the PRIME trial. The PRIME trial was a multi-dimensional clinical trial designed to investigate the effectiveness of an integrated pressure ulcer ...

Pressure ulcer assessment is usually performed at the bedside by a clinician with minimal training in wound assessment. A multidisciplinary panel of United States' wound experts was assembled to provide anatomically accurate and practical terms associated with pressure ulcer assessment, healing, and nonhealing in order to help clinicians identify and describe tissue types and pressure ulcer sta...

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...

Pain is an ever-present problem in patients with pressure ulcers. As an advocate for persons with pressure ulcers, the National Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel (NPUAP) is concerned about pain. To synthesize available pressure ulcer pain literature, a systematic review was performed of English language literature, specific to human research, 1992 to April 2008, using PubMed and the Cumulative Inde...

AIM To examine the accuracy of data collected on pressure ulcer incidence. A system for monitoring incidence has been in place since 1991 at a medium-sized hospital trust. The data collected are used to calculate resource requirements for specialist mattresses, to audit compliance with pressure ulcer guidelines and to identify staff training needs. METHOD A convenience sample comprising 211 i...

There are a number of major drivers behind the need to improve the way pressure ulcer risk is managed: higher acuity patients; resource-limited healthcare systems; a growing emphasis on patient preference, clinician safety and a nosocomial pressure ulcer rate that has changed little over time (Buttery and Phillips, 2009). The challenges are clearly complex and demand an evidence-based and timel...