Prevention, Treatment and Healing of Pressure Sores in Long‐term Care Patients

ABSTRACT Of 515 consecutive patients newly admitted to the long‐term medical ward, 16% already had skin lesions which were classified as pressure sores upon arrival in the ward, and 7.6% developed pressure sores during the observation period which was more than three days but not more than 26 weeks. The relation between the condition of the patient and the development of pressure sores and their prevention and treatment was followed with a modified Norton scale. Proportionally more sores progressed which were initially recorded as skin discoloration as compared with the other stages, i.e. epithelial damage, damage to the full thickness of the skin and lesion with a cavity. Preventive measures were not used to a greater extent in those patients who developed pressure sores as compared with those who did not. Preventive measures were used rather as treatment or secondary prevention after a patient had already developed a lesion. The treatment measures were used in many different combinations. In this study no healing effect could be proved for the various treatment measures which were undertaken.