Pressure ulcer in intensive care unit: analysis of incidence and injuries installed

Abstract

A longitudinal quantitative study carried out in the Intensive Care Unit of a public hospital in João Pessoa-PB, Brazil, from July to October 2012, which aimed to analyze the incidence of pressure ulcers and describe their characteristics. We monitored 36 patients who met the inclusion criteria. Data collection happened through physical examination and medical records. We verified that 22.2% of patients developed the injury, affecting equally men and women (50.0%), with predominance of Caucasians (62.5%) and aged under 50 years (30.8%), which developed the injury in less than ten days (87.5%), in the sacral region (27.3%) and classified in category II (63.6%). Despite investments in devices for prevention and treatment of pressure ulcers, these are still present in practice and with significant incidence. Therefore, we suggest investing in professional training, as well as develop and implement protocols for preventing this injury.