Seating for patients vulnerable to pressure sores

Summary

The problem of pressure sores is one not just for the bedbound patient, but also for those who spend long periods of time sitting, in either rest chairs or wheelchairs. Many of the sores reported in a survey of patients in the Greater Glasgow Health Board Area were attributable to factors associated with sitting. The push-up regimens for producing intermittent pressure relief, recommended for many wheelchair patients, are difficult for rest-chair users, as many are too weak or confused to lift themselves or to relieve pressure. Effective pressure relief regimens are available for the wheelchair user or bedbound patient, but there are considerable problems in providing an effective regimen for rest-chair users.

The concept of the wheelchair cushion fitting clinic for certain groups of patients has proved successful both in this study and elsewhere. The limited effective lifetime of polyurethane foams requires patients to return regularly to the clinic for cushion evaluation and replacement. The cost of such a service is moderately high, but the results from the study suggest that economies could be made using a mass-produced cut-out cushion which could be manufactured to suit up to 40 per cent of spinal injury patients requiring this type of cushion for pressure sore prevention.