Intraoperative Device-Related Pressure Injuries in Patients Undergoing Prolonged Surgery

This study aimed to determine the incidence of and risk factors for device-related pressure injuries (PIs) in prolonged surgeries.

A descriptive, prospective, single-center study was conducted in a hospital in Istanbul, Turkey, between June and September 2023. The study included 367 adults who underwent elective surgery with an operative time of 3 hours or longer. Data were collected via a patient information form, the Braden Scale, and the 3S Intraoperative Risk Assessment Scale (3S Intraoperative RAS).

The patients in the study had a mean age of 47 years, 64% were women, and 28.9% underwent plastic surgery. The median operative time was 250 minutes, and the median number of intraoperative medical devices used was 13. Device-related PIs were observed in 30% of the patients (n=110), and 98.8% of the PIs were classified as stage 1. The factors associated with a significantly greater incidence of device-related PI were age older than 48 years ( P =.001), body mass index ≥25 kg/m 2 ( P =.036), position change after anesthesia induction ( P <.001), skin abnormalities ( P =.033), operative time ≥250 minutes ( P =.012), intraoperative bleeding ≥150 mL ( P =.012), and ≥13 intraoperative medical devices ( P <.001).

Patient and surgical factors are important in the development of device-related PIs during long surgeries. The use of risk assessment tools that include surgical risk factors and evidence-based PI prevention interventions for the medical devices used in surgery is recommended.