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[Pressure ulcers in the critical patient: detection of risk factors]

A Roca-Biosca1, M C Velasco-Guillén, L Rubio-Rico

  • 1Servicio de Medicina Intensiva, Departamento de Enfermería, Hospital Universitari de Tarragona Joan XXIII, Universidad Rovira i Virgili de Tarragona, Tarragona, España. alba.roca@urv.cat

Enfermeria Intensiva
|September 6, 2012
PubMed

Insights

Critically ill patients face high risks of pressure ulcers (PU). Obesity (BMI≥30), high EMINA scores, and norepinephrine increase PU risk, while nutrition and turning may offer protection.

Area of Science:

  • Critical Care Medicine
  • Nursing Research
  • Clinical Risk Management

Context:

  • Intensive care units (ICU) experience high rates of pressure ulcer (PU) incidence and prevalence.
  • Critically ill patients are particularly vulnerable to developing pressure ulcers.
  • Identifying PU risk factors is crucial for prevention in ICUs.

Purpose:

  • To identify risk factors associated with pressure ulcer development in critically ill patients.
  • To analyze the relationship between various clinical variables and PU appearance.
  • To provide evidence for targeted PU prevention strategies in intensive care.

Summary:

  • A prospective study of 236 ICU patients identified Body Mass Index (BMI) ≥30 (RR: 2.51), EMINA score >10 (RR: 2.96), and norepinephrine (RR: 2.34) as significant risk factors for PU.
  • Hyperproteic nutrition (RR: 0.946), turning (RR: 0.88), sedation (RR: 0.95), polyurethane nasogastric feeding tubes (RR: 0.94), and dynamic support surfaces (RR: 0.88) were found to be protective.
  • Kaplan-Meier survival and Cox regression analyses were employed to determine significance (p < 0.05).

Impact:

  • Findings highlight specific patient characteristics and interventions that predict PU development in critical care.
  • Identifies modifiable factors like nutrition and turning that can be leveraged for PU prevention.
  • Informs clinical practice and resource allocation for reducing PU incidence in vulnerable ICU populations.
Abstract

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