Dissertation committee:
Κοτανίδου Αναστασία, Καθηγήτρια, Ιατρική Σχολή, ΕΚΠΑ, Επιβλέπουσα
Δημοπούλου Ιωάννα-Μαρία, Καθηγήτρια, Ιατρική Σχολή, ΕΚΠΑ
Ορφανός Στυλιανός, Καθηγητής, Ιατρική Σχολή, ΕΚΠΑ
Κουτσούκου Αντωνία, Καθηγήτρια, Ιατρική Σχολή, ΕΚΠΑ
Ροβίνα Νικολέττα, Επίκουρη Καθηγήτρια, Ιατρική Σχολή, ΕΚΠΑ
Κατσαούνου Παρασκευή, Επίκουρη Καθηγήτρια, Ιατρική Σχολή, ΕΚΠΑ
Βασιλειάδης Ιωάννης, Επίκουρος Καθηγητής, Ιατρική Σχολή, ΕΚΠΑ
Summary:
Introduction: The development of pressure ulcers is a severe problem in the healthcare sector and especially in the patients treated in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).
Aim: The aim of the present research was to compare the effectiveness of two mattresses used in ICU high risk patients in terms of PUs prevention and healing.
Materials and Methods: The studied sample consisted of 70 consecutive patients aged 18 to 65 years hospitalized in two ICU of a General Hospital of Athens, Greece. Virtuoso Mattress System was used in 35 patients and standard foam mattress in the rest of participants. Patients were firstly assessed on enrollment and then every 72 hours in order to record the appearance or not of PUs, the location and the stage with the maximum follow-up not exceeding the 21 days.
Results: Of the 70 patients, 40 (57.1%) were men and the mean±standard deviation age of the sample was 46.1±14.5 years. The most common area of PUs was the buttocks (34.3%) followed by the shoulders (22.3%) with no statistically significant difference detected between the two groups. Moreover, the proportion of patients having PUs at stage 2 or higher was 23.8% at 3rd day after admission and 61.1% at 6th day, with no difference detected between the two groups. Cox proportional hazard model revealed that virtuoso was associated with almost 56% lower risk of developing PUs compared to standard foam mattress (HR (95% CI): 0.44 (0.20–0.93)). The percentage of patients healed using the Virtuoso mattress was significantly lower compared to the standard foam mattress at all time points with the results reaching statistical significance only at 12th day after admission (7.7% vs. 66.7%, p <0.05)
Conclusions: Virtuoso mattress seems to be more effective compared to standard foam mattresses in prevention of PUs, while the standard foam mattresses more effective in PUs healing process.
Keywords:
Pressure ulcers, Supportive surfaces, Healing, Intensive Care Unit, Prevention
