Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2018 Dec 18:2018:3712067.
doi: 10.1155/2018/3712067. eCollection 2018.

The Effect of Support Surfaces on the Incidence of Pressure Injuries in Critically Ill Patients: A Randomized Clinical Trial

Wesley Henrique Bueno de Camargo  1 , Rita de Cassia Pereira  2 , Marcos T Tanita  1 , Lidiane Heko  3 , Isadora C Grion  4 , Josiane Festti  5 , Ana Luiza Mezzaroba  1 , Cintia Magalhães Carvalho Grion  5
Affiliations

The Effect of Support Surfaces on the Incidence of Pressure Injuries in Critically Ill Patients: A Randomized Clinical Trial

Wesley Henrique Bueno de Camargo et al. Crit Care Res Pract. .

Abstract

Purpose: To analyze whether a viscoelastic mattress support surface can reduce the incidence of stage 2 pressure injuries compared to a standard hospital mattress with pyramidal overlay in critically ill patients.

Method: A randomized clinical trial with intention-to-treat analysis was carried out recruiting patients with Braden scale ≤14 on intensive care unit admission from April 2016 to April 2017. Patients were allocated into two groups: intervention group (viscoelastic mattress) and control group (standard mattress with pyramidal overlay). The level of significance adopted was 5%.

Results: A total of 62 patients were included in the study. There was a predominance of males (53%) and the mean age was 67.9 (SD 18.8) years. There were no differences in clinical or severity characteristics between the patients in the control group and the intervention group. Pressure injuries occurred in 35 patients, with a median time of 7 days (ITQ 4-10) from admission. The frequency of pressure injuries was higher in the control group (80.6%) compared to the intervention group (32.2%; p < 0.001).

Conclusions: Viscoelastic support surfaces reduced the incidence of pressure injuries in moderate or higher risk critically ill patients when compared to pyramidal support surfaces.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flowchart of patients in the study. Control group = use of pyramidal mattress; intervention group = use of viscoelastic foam mattress.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Kaplan–Meier curve for occurrence of pressure injuries in the study groups. P-value by log-rank test.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Rodziewicz T. L., Hipskind J. E. Medical Error Prevention. StatPearls [Internet] Treasure Island, FL, USA: StatPearls Publishing; 2018.
    1. Walker R. M., Gillespie B. M., Thalib L., Higgins N. S., Whitty J. A. Foam dressings for treating pressure ulcers. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 2017;10:p. CD011332. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD011332.pub2. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations. The Joint commission announces 2014 National patient safety goal. Joint Commission Perspectives. 2013;33(7):3–4. - PubMed
    1. Santos C. T., Oliveira M. C., Pereira A. G., Suzuki L. M., Lucena A. F. Pressure ulcer care quality indicator: analysis of medical records and incident report. Revista Gaúcha de Enfermagem. 2013;34(1):111–118. - PubMed
    1. Figueiras R. G. Surgical treatment of pressure ulcers: a two-year experience. Revista Brasileira de Cirurgia Plástica (Impresso) 2011;26(3):418–427. doi: 10.1590/s1983-51752011000300010. - DOI

LinkOut - more resources