Laboratory Research
Pressure injuries (PIs) have significant deleterious impacts on patients, healthcare professionals, and payors. Recent clinical studies indicate that multilayer foam dressings may be an effective addition in the prevention of hospital-acquired PIs1,2. In vitro work has further demonstrated that these dressings can absorb and redistribute forces applied directly to the skin3. The aim of this study was to evaluate pressure distribution properties of commercially available wound dressings used in high-risk body areas when applying clinically relevant interface pressures using a novel sacrum model3,4.
Methods:
Five dressings were evaluated: A*, B†, C‡, D§, and E‖. A high-resolution pressure mapping system was used to test the pressure redistribution properties of the dressings. The dressing was applied to a 6 mm silicone gel5 layer (to simulate the overlying tissue), and a clinically relevant load (30 mmHg) was applied for 60 seconds using a novel sacral indenter. A control was performed using the same construct without a dressing applied. Contact area and average and peak pressures were recorded (6 replicates performed).
Results: All dressings showed a significant reduction in peak and average pressure and increase in contact area compared with the no dressing control (P ≤ 0.001). Dressing A showed significant reduction in peak pressure compared with dressings D and E, and in average pressure compared with dressing E only (P < 0.001). Dressing B showed a reduction in peak and average pressure compared with Dressings D and E; the difference was statistically significant only with Dressing E.
Discussion:
Using an anatomically accurate sacral indenter and clinically relevant testing pressure, these findings indicate that dressings A and B provide a significant reduction in interface pressure compared with no dressing. Dressings A and B also showed comparable or improved pressure reduction compared with most other test dressings. These data suggest that these dressings may be considered as a component in the toolkit of pressure injury prevention protocols.