Table 4.
Summary characteristics of the 11 case series studies where comparisons were made between the incidence of pressure ulcers where the skin was protected with a wound dressing and either where no dressing was applied to prevent pressure damage or where alternative dressings had been used prior to the start of the study
| Study | Design | Population | Body sites reported | Prophylactic dressing | Comparator (if present) | Pressure ulcer incidence where dressings were used to augment prevention | Pressure ulcer incidence in comparator group (if present) | Other comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bots and Apotheker 2004 19 | Cohort, but one group had no reported data so treated in the review as a case series | General surgery, cardiopulmonary surgery, orthopaedic/trauma, vascular/gynaecology/urology in single centre | Heel | Hydropolymer adhesive dressing | Historical data | 10/117 (8·5%) | Prevalence 36·5% (number of patients and pressure ulcers unreported) | Dressing applied in at‐risk group anticipated to have surgery over 90 minutes in duration |
| Brindle 2009 20 | Case series | Single‐centre ICU | Sacrum | Soft silicone foam | None | 0/41 (0%) | None | Patients grouped as either high or low risk of pressure ulcer development, high‐risk patients received the dressing as part of their pressure ulcer preventive care |
| Cano et al. 2011 21 | Case series | Single‐centre ICU/CCU | Sacrum | Soft silicone foam | None | 1/166 (0·6%) | None | Conference abstract only |
| Chaiken 2012 22 | Case series | Single‐centre ICU | Sacrum | Soft silicone foam | Historical pressure ulcer prevalence data within ICU | 5/275 (1·8%) | Prevalence stated to be either 13·6% (abstract) and 12·3% (text) (stated to be data from 291 ICU patients) | Comparing prevalence and incidence data. Contemporary introduction of staff education with focus upon reduced head of bed elevation may also have reduced incidence? |
| Hsu et al. 2010 29 | Case series | Unspecified | Nose | Soft silicone foam | Historical incidence data where hydrocolloid dressing used to protect the skin under face masks | 0·9% (number of patients and pressure ulcers unreported) | 5·9% 47/797 (patients wearing face masks with the skin protected by hydrocolloid dressings in 2006) | None |
| Iwai et al. 2011 23 | Technical report | Single centre during Surgery | Nose | Hydrocolloid | None | 0% from 'over 500 patients' | None | Technical report upon placement of the dressing around a nasotracheal tube |
| Kiely 2012 24 | Case series | Single‐centre ICU | Sacrum | Soft silicone foam | Historical incidence data | 0·9% (number of patients and pressure ulcers unreported) | Stated to be five new sacral pressure ulcers per month in the ICU | Facility‐wide quality improvement programme with dressing use in ICU as one component |
| Koerner et al. 2011 25 | Case series | Single‐centre ICU | Sacrum | Soft silicone foam | Historical incidence data – medical/cardiac ICU and surgical ICU | 0% (number of patients followed up unreported) | 20% surgical ICU, 40% medical/cardiac ICU (number of patients and pressure ulcers unreported) | Conference abstract only |
| Lisco 2013 26 | Case series | Single‐centre ICU | Sacrum | Silicone adhesive hydrocellular foam | None | 0/22 (0%) | None | Conference abstract only |
| Sansom and Flynn 2007 27 | Case series | Single‐centre Emergency department | Heel | Foam | None | 0/20 (0%) | None | Data reported upon 20 of the 100 patients provided with the heel dressing |
| Walsh et al. 2012 28 | Case series | Single‐centre ICU | Sacrum | Soft silicone foam | None | 3/62 (4·8%) | None | Reduction in incidence of pressure ulcer in ICU 2008 to 2010 from 21·3% to 7%; reduced numbers of sacral pressure ulcers in ICU from 79 in 2008 to 13 in 2010 |
ICU, intensive care unit; CCU, critical care unit.