Hospital-Acquired Pressure Injuries and Acute Skin Failure in Critical Care: A Case-Control Study.
Joyce Pittman, Terrie Beeson, Jill Dillon and 4 others
PMID 33427806WHAT IT FOUND
Proposed acute skin failure factors did not distinguish unavoidable from avoidable pressure injuries.
Pressure injuries were linked to sicker patients, organ failure, severe anemia, sepsis, and documented moisture.
Key findings
01The study did not find significant differences between unavoidable and avoidable pressure injuries for most proposed acute skin failure risk factors.
02Patients who developed a hospital-acquired pressure injury had higher illness severity and mortality than matched controls.
03Documented moisture was associated with being more likely to develop a pressure injury, alongside respiratory failure, renal failure, cardiac failure, severe anemia, and sepsis.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
The study looked back at records, so it could not confirm bedside care or verify that documentation was complete. It was done in a large, high-acuity health system, so results may not transfer to other units. Prior pressure injury history was unknown for 272 of 475 records, so that comparison is inconclusive. Controls were sampled four days after admission, while pressure injury cases were assessed three days before injury, so the timing was not identical. The acute skin failure concept lacks a universal diagnostic criterion, and the study did not validate a predictive model for it.
Declared interests
The authors declared no relevant conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that acute skin failure risk factors identify unavoidable pressure injuries. The study did not find significant differences between unavoidable and avoidable pressure injuries for most proposed acute skin failure factors.