Pressure ulcers: assessment and treatment.

Pressure ulcers are one of the most common iatrogenic illnesses in health care that affect a specific patient population--the elderly and the immobile. While the pathophysiology and etiology of these lesions are seemingly well understood, treatment modalities are still often based upon supposition. This article is divided into two major sections: Assessment and Treatment. Assessment will cover the etiology of pressure ulcers, physiology of the skin, wound healing, pathophysiology of unhealthy wounds, and the critical role assessment must play in determining treatment. The section on treatment will discuss the major categories of dressings, as well as other treatment modalities, in terms of the goals of therapy.