Heel Pressure Injuries in the Adult Critical Care Population

Incidence of pressure injuries in fracture patients: A systematic review and meta-analysis

OBJECTIVE

To systematically evaluate the incidence of pressure injuries (PIs) in hospitalized fracture patients and to provide evidence for the prevention and treatment of PIs.

METHODS

A systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analysis (PRISMA) guidelines. Electronic databases including PubMed, Embase, the Cochrane Library, Web of Science, CINAHL, China Knowledge Resource Integrated Database (CNKI), WanFang Database, Weipu Database (VIP), and Chinese Biomedical Database (CBM) were searched to collect cross-sectional studies and cohort studies related to PIs among hospitalized fracture patients. All electronic literature sources were searched from inception to March 2022, and a hand-search through references was also conducted to find relevant articles. Studies were evaluated independently by two researchers and audited by a third researcher. The data were extracted and presented in tables. The risk of bias was assessed using the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) Critical Appraisal Checklist. All data analysis used Stata14.0. The I² statistic and random-effects model were used to determine the heterogeneity.

RESULTS

A total of 7906 articles were screened, and 18 studies with 8956 patients were ultimately involved in this review. The pooled incidence of PIs in the fracture patients was 20.4% (95%CI: 14.9 to 25.8), and the incidence of PIs only in spinal and hip fracture patients was 23.9% (95%CI: 19.6 to 28.2). The incidence of PIs in 65 years old or over was significantly high (23.3% [95%CI: 15.3 to 31.2]). The most affected body sites were sacrococcygeal regions (56.7%) and heels (19.9%). The most common stages were stage 2 (62.2%) and stage 1 (17.4%).

CONCLUSION

The overall incidence of PIs in fracture patients was as high as 20.4%, significantly higher than the average incidence of adults. We found that the potential for PIs in fracture patients increases with age. Hence, our discoveries recommended that healthcare givers should consider reducing the occurrence of PIs. Additionally, more research may be conducted to improve the understanding of characteristics of PIs among fracture patients and to identify PIs risk factors to prevent and treat them effectively.

Pressure Injury Risk Assessment and Prevention in Patients With COVID-19 in the Intensive Care Unit

BACKGROUND

Patients critically ill with COVID-19 are at risk for hospital-acquired pressure injury, including device-related pressure injury.

METHODS

Braden Scale predictive validity was compared between patients with and without COVID-19, and a logistic regression model was developed to identify risk factors for device-related pressure injury.

RESULTS

A total of 1920 patients were included in the study sample, including 407 with COVID-19. Among the latter group, at least 1 hospital-acquired pressure injury developed in each of 120 patients (29%); of those, device-related pressure injury developed in 55 patients (46%). The Braden Scale score area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.72 in patients without COVID-19 and 0.71 in patients with COVID-19, indicating fair to poor discrimination.

CONCLUSIONS

Fragile skin and prone positioning during mechanical ventilatory support were risk factors for device-related pressure injury. Clinicians may consider incorporating factors not included in the Braden Scale (eg, oxygenation and perfusion) in routine risk assessment and should maintain vigilance in their efforts to protect patients with COVID-19 from device-related pressure injury.

Risk factors for heel pressure injury in cardiovascular intensive care unit patients

This study analyzed the risk factors for heel pressure injury in cardiovascular intensive care unit patients with the aim of laying the groundwork for preventive nursing interventions. We conducted a retrospective case‐control study of 92 patients who were admitted to the cardiovascular surgical or medical intensive care unit of a university hospital in South Korea between January and December 2017. Of these patients, 31 and 61 were included to the heel pressure injury group and the non‐heel pressure injury group, respectively. Data on their demographic, disease‐related, and intensive care unit treatment characteristics, as well as the degree of pressure injury, were collected from the hospital's electronic medical records using a standardized form. Cardiac surgery (P < .001), operation time (P = .001), use of a mechanical ventilator (P < .001), use of vasoconstrictors (P < .001), use of sedative drugs (P < .001), and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation treatment (P < .001) were identified as significant risk factors for heel pressure injury. A total of 22 patients (71%) from the heel pressure injury group developed deep tissue injury, and 16 patients (51.6%) who received extracorporeal membrane oxygenation treatment developed heel pressure injury.