Bedsores Health Article

Definition

Bedsores are also called decubitus ulcers, pressure ulcers, or pressure sores. These tender or inflamed patches develop when skin covering a weight-bearing part of the body is squeezed between bone and another body part, or a bed, chair, splint, or other hard object.

Description

Each year, about one million people in the United States develop bedsores ranging from mild inflammation to deep wounds that involve muscle and bone. This often painful condition usually starts with shiny red skin that quickly blisters and deteriorates into open sores that can harbor life-threatening infection.

Bedsores are not cancerous or contagious. They are most likely to occur in people who must use wheelchairs or who are confined to bed. In 1992, the federal Agency for Health Care Policy and Research reported that bedsores afflict:

• 10% of hospital patients
• 25% of nursing home residents
• 60% of quadriplegics

The Agency also noted that 65% of elderly people hospitalized with broken hips develop bedsores and that doctors fees for treatment of bedsores amounted to $2,900 per person.

Bedsores are most apt to develop on the:

• ankles
• back of the head
• heels
• hips
• knees
• lower back
• shoulder blades
• spine

People over the age of 60 are more likely than younger people to develop bedsores. Risk is also increased by:

• atherosclerosis (hardening of arteries)
• diabetes or other conditions that make skin more susceptible to infection
• diminished sensation or lack of feeling
• heart problems
• incontinence (inability to control bladder or bowel movements)
• malnutrition
• obesity
• paralysis or immobility
• poor circulation
• prolonged bed rest, especially in unsanitary conditions or with wet or wrinkled sheets
• spinal cord injury