Pressure ulcer incidence on a spinal cord injury unit

Because of the high risk for pressure ulcers among hospitalized, spinal cord injured patients, one quality improvement measure is to monitor incidence of pressure ulcers. A retrospective chart review of each patient who developed an ulcer during an 18-month period revealed patient characteristics associated with pressure ulcer risk. Of 468 inpatient admissions, 35 patients developed 81 pressure ulcers. Patient variables associated with an incidence rate of 7.5% were an admission diagnosis of pressure ulcer, surgical repair of pressure ulcers, length of stay, new spinal cord injury, longstanding injury (> 10 years), and the use of condom catheters.