Pressure sores
Wrong Wound Care Treatment: Liability
Wrong wound care treatment liability issues affect many medical malpractice cases. Many wound care clinicians remember the “good old days” when wound dressing product selection simply involved choosing between a handful of products that were essentially variations on the same theme. There was gauze, impregnated gauze and filled gauze pads. In the earlier 20th century,…
Read MoreBed Entrapment: Killed by the Mattress
Bed entrapment may be fatal. What factors can lead to a patient being killed by a mattress? I worked on a case involving a man who strangely himself on a side rail. The staff left the facility for a fire drill. The man, who had bilateral wrist restraints, slid off the mattress and got his…
Read MorePressure Ulcer Classification Systems Controversies
Pressure sore staging challenged In December 2011, a panel of experts rocked the pressure ulcer world by attacking some of the underpinnings of the current pressure ulcer classification systems (Staging, Grading, Categories). They said that some of the language creates problems from clinical, regulatory, legal and economic perspectives. The advisory panel is proposing the new…
Read MoreSkin Changes at End of Life
Skin changes at the end of life are not a new issue. Consider what occurred more than 100 years ago. Dr. Alois Alzheimer was on call in 1901 when a 51-year-old woman, Frau August D, was admitted to his asylum for the insane in Frankfort. Dr. Alzheimer followed this patient, studied her symptoms and presented…
Read MoreThe Wound that Does Not Heal
Impact of nonhealing wounds Chronic, nonhealing wounds are disabling and constitute a significant burden on patients’ activities of daily living (ADLS) and the healthcare system. Of persons with diabetes, 2% to 3% develop a foot ulcer annually, whereas the lifetime risk of a person with diabetes developing a foot ulcer is as high as 25%.8…
Read MoreThe Sore in Pressure Sores
Bill is a 70 year-old-man who developed paraplegia. During his prolonged hospitalization, a stage IV pressure sore formed. One year later, it is still present and it dominates his life at home. Pressure sores may have a huge impact on the quality of a patient’s life. There is a financial impact of prolonged treatment –…
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