Risk factors and predisposing conditions to pressure ulcers in intensive care unit patients

Abstract

Pressure ulcers (PUs) are complications in patients of ICUs due to several factors. We had intended to identify the predisposing conditions (PC), intrinsic (IF) and extrinsic factors (EF) present in hospitalized patients in ICUs. Descriptive study, longitudinal quantitative in ICUs of a private hospital in Natal / RN with 40 patients, april to maio/2005. Data collection was performed by observation and skin examination. As a result, we have higher occurrence of PUs in males (70%), after 7 days (60%), with respiratory diseases (42.3%) and in the sacral region (40.0%) and calcaneus (36, 0%). 25 PUs were diagnosed in 50.0% of patients and were found predisposing conditions (PC) (anemia, hypotension and leukocytosis), Internal Factors (FI) (decreased muscle strength, mild edema, totally impaired motor coordination) and External Factors (EF) (type of mattress, in the same decubitus position for more than 2 hours and shear / friction strength) in the occurrence of these ulcers. The variables males (p = 0.0267), sedation (p = 0.0015), the shear / friction strength (p = 0.0393), pressure force (p = 0.0006), psychomotor agitation (p = 0.0375) and leukocytosis (p = 0.0285) showed statistical significance. We concluded that the PU appearance is related to the multiplicity of factors and conditions during hospitalization, denoting the need for systematized clinical evaluation contemplating the complexity of issues involved in assistance.