PRESSURE ULCERS ETIOLOGY AND PATHOPHYSIOLOGY CLINICAL MANIFESTATIONS

• Pressure ulcers are lesions caused by unrelieved pressure or from tissue layers sliding over other tissue layers, (shearing).

• The result is damage to the underlying tissues.

• Over 95% of all pressure ulcers occur over a bony prominence, primarily the pelvic girdle.

• Factors that contribute to the development of pressure ulcers include:

  Pressure

  Shearing force

  Impaired Circulation

  Anemia

  Contractures

  Mental Impairment

  Physical Handicaps

  Immobility

  Incontinence

  Age, (elderly)

  Hyperglycemia

  Poor Nutrition

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