Intraoperatively acquired pressure ulcers: are there common risk factors?

Surgery puts patients at risk for developing pressure ulcers. Studies examining factors most likely associated with intraoperatively acquired pressure ulcers have not resulted in the development of a risk assessment tool specific to the surgical patient population. To ascertain the current national rate and potential risk factors of intraoperatively acquired pressure ulcers, a survey method was used to obtain data from a 1-day descriptive study. Between May and August 2003, Wound Ostomy Continence Nurses in 37 participating facilities in 21 states completed 281 individual patient surveys. Nine patients (3.5%) developed pressure ulcers related to a surgical event. Most (six patients, 66.7%) had at least one comorbidity and were managed with a warming device and 89% received three or more anesthetic agents. The median operative time for patients developing a pressure ulcer was 4.48 hours. While the external validity of these findings is limited by the current study sample size, the observations confirm previously reported trends and the need for research to improve risk factor identification of surgical patients to improve pressure ulcer prevention efforts.