Pressure Ulcers

Pressure ulcers

Examine the management of pressure ulcers in elderly patients

Examine the management of pressure ulcers in elderly patients

Pressure ulcers also are known as decubitus ulcers are damages on the skin that occurs over a bonny prominence because of pressure and friction. Most parts of the body affected are the skin overlying the heels, hips, elbow, knee, and ankles. It occurs due to force applied to soft tissues which lead to blood flow obstruction. The condition is common in individuals who do not frequently move about like bedridden individuals, the elderly and physical impaired on wheelchairs.

The ability of skin to withstand pressure and shear is usually influenced by factors such as level of protein calories in the body and diseases reducing blood flow. It is very challenging to treat and control pressure ulcers in critically sick individuals and elderly patients. One of the prevention measures is redistributing the pressure by regularly turning the patient who is always challenging in frail elders, physically impaired and the critically ill individuals.

The condition can if discovered in the elderly patients is managed by increased bed rest, making use of pressure-redistributing support surface and improvement in nutrition. Wounds created by pressure ulcers are also well taken care of during debridement and wound dressing.

Debridement is the removal of necrotic tissue an ideal area for bacteria and disease-causing organism’s growth. When the fabric is left or removed using wrong procedures, wound healing process is compromised. After removing the necrotic tissue, the wound caused by pressure ulcers is cleaned and sterilized well to get rid of existing disease-causing microorganisms before dressing it.

It is better to create preventive measures for a health condition instead of waiting for its occurrence to start treatment. It saves time, resources and frees the patient from unnecessary pain. Measures to prevent pressure ulcers include ensuring the individuals who cannot move on their own are turned frequently to redistribute pressure on their body and allow continuous distribution of blood to all tissues.

Medical firms and healthcare providers, therefore, call for a lot of support to the elderly patients from the community to protect them from acquiring the disease. Other preventive measures advice by health providers includes the creation of support surfaces and improvement in nutrition by consuming a balanced diet with food rich in proteins.

Examine the management of pressure ulcers in elderly patients