Bed Sores/Pressure Sores
"Bed Sores" or "pressures sores" are common terms for decubitus ulcers. Bedsores are one of the most common injuries to elderly patients in nursing homes. If a patient enters a nursing home without bedsores and develops one, it is an indication of nursing home neglect, and the patient is not being properly cared for. Bedsores are caused by unrelieved pressure to one part of the body, especially over bony or cartilaginous areas. Bedsores occur when the patient is not repositioned correctly and indicate that there is lacking the proper standard of care. While bedsores are completely treatable in the early stages, without medical attention, they can result in severe infections that can enter the bone and bloodstream and cause death.
There are four stages of bedsores:
Stage I - redness or soreness to an area of the body, especially the back, shoulders, hips, buttocks, and ankles. The skin can feel hotter or cooler and appear a different shade of color than the rest of the skin.
Stage II - damage to the skin - epidermis - and appears as a rash or a blister.
Stage III - the full thickness of the skin is involved and the lesion penetrates into the subcutaneous tissue layer. At this point, the skin has a poor blood supply and the patient has a difficult time healing. The wound may appear small, but often the damage is much larger than it appears.
Stage IV - the wound extends into the muscle, tendon, and even the bone.
Only 62% of bedsores that reach a Stage IV ever heal and in 50% of those cases, healing can take one year or more.
Every nursing home should have a program to avoid bedsores in bedridden patients which includes turning the patient often, keeping dry clean linens on the patient's bed, and using cushions that feature pressure relief components.
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