Efficacy of operative cure in pressure sore patients

The advent of air flotation-type beds and purified growth factors that may accelerate open wound contraction, coupled with very high recurrence rates and decreasing health resources, suggests that surgical reconstruction of pressure sores may not be indicated in all patients. In an effort to define which patients might benefit from operation, we reviewed the data from 40 consecutive patients with 68 pressure sores operated on under the direction of a single surgeon between 1981 and 1989. Patients were categorized on the basis of the presence or absence of paraplegia and its etiology. Sixty-six operations were performed, 55 muscle or fasciocutaneous flaps and 11 cutaneous flaps. There was a 36 percent operative complication rate, with no operative mortalities. Follow-up ranged from 1 to 71 months, with a mean of 21 months. Despite an 80% healed rate at the time of discharge, 61% of sores and 69% of patients had recurrent ulceration within a mean of 9.3 months. Analysis of these data indicates that surgical reconstruction of pressure sores does not appear to be efficacious in young posttraumatic paraplegics or cerebrally compromised elderly patients. Further review of the data failed to identify those patients likely to remain healed after operative repair of their pressure sores.