Pressure Ulcers Nu1500

In this essay I am going to briefly discuss the history of Pressure Ulcers. I will then define the term pressure ulcer and state the main cause of pressure ulcers. I will go into detail about the extrinsic factors, intrinsic factors and external factors that play a major part in the causing and developing of a pressure ulcer. I am also going to discuss the other ways that a pressure ulcer can be caused including negligent behaviour from the carer or nurse, negligent behaviour from the patient and how it can be treated. I will also go into detail about how to treat the wound. I will then consider how pressure ulcers can be prevented and how effective the methods are.

When history was first recorded pressure ulcers were found to be one of the most regular problems occurring within the disabled, debilitated and chronically ill. “In 1593 Fabricus suggested nerve severance and loss of blood supply as the cause of these lesions. Quesnay (1749) distinguished between bed-sores caused by pressure and those which followed other diseases”. It was investigated and found that pressure and moisture of the skin were the major factors causing ulceration. Pressure sores were then defined as the sloughing and mortification or death of a part produced by pressure Torrance (1983).

Pressure ulcers are very unpleasant and are caused by a complication of illness or disability. A definition can be an ulceration of the skin which leads to the disruption of the blood supply as a result of one or more of the following; pressure, friction and shear. In other words they occur when the skin and underlying tissue becomes damaged. In very serious cases, the underlying muscle and bone can also be damaged. There are many different terms for pressure ulcers such as pressure sores, decubitus ulcers or bedsores. The first known pressure sore was found on an Egyptian priestess. The mummy was found to have pieces of leather over the sores on the sacrum and buttocks Dealey (1997).

There are a number...