Protecting patients from pressure injuries during surgery

The importance of protecting the patient from pressure injury during surgery cannot be overlooked. During the operation, the patient needs to maintain a certain posture for a long time. If the posture is improper, certain parts of the patient's body will be oppressed for a long time, which will cause pressure injury. Therefore, during surgery, medical staff need to take measures to protect patients from pressure injuries.

What is an intraoperative pressure injury?

A pressure injury is caused by local tissue being compressed for a long time, resulting in blood circulation disorder, which leads to continuous tissue ischemia, hypoxia, malnutrition, and eventually tissue damage and necrosis. Intraoperative pressure injury refers to the skin injury that occurs during the operation or within a few hours after the operation to 6 days after the operation, among which the most common one is 1 day to 3 days after the operation. During the operation, the patient needs to maintain a certain posture for a long time. If the posture is improper, certain parts of the patient's body will be compressed for a long time, which will cause pressure injury. Therefore, during surgery, medical staff need to take measures to protect patients from pressure injuries. The prevention of intraoperative pressure injury is very important. Medical staff needs to conduct a comprehensive assessment of the patient, choose the most suitable posture and body position, regularly check the patient's physical condition, take auxiliary measures, and pay attention to the operating skills during the operation to avoid damage to the patient. unnecessary harm to the patient.

There are two broad categories of pressure injuries during surgery :

Medical device-related pressure injury: refers to the pressure injury caused by the use of medical devices used for diagnosis or treatment, and the shape of the injured part is usually consistent with the shape of the medical device.

Mucosa pressure injury: refers to the pressure injury of the corresponding mucous membrane caused by the use of medical devices, including nasal mucosa, oral mucosa, vaginal mucosa, etc.

How to prevent intraoperative pressure injury?

Before the operation: evaluate the risk factors of pressure injury in surgical patients, and check the skin condition of the whole body.

Intraoperative: Correctly place the surgical position, and use body care appliances or dressings appropriately, such as Silicone Foam Dressing, a functional dressing suitable for large areas of skin. Before starting anesthesia, ask the patient to comfort check that the limb is in a functional position. Close observation was performed after the operation began; dynamic assessment of risk factors for pressure injury was performed every 2 hours; massage was given to the pressured part without affecting the operation, the supine position was kept stable, the limbs were stretched, and the operation bed was properly adjusted to change the body position; Use heating equipment to keep the patient warm; keep the body position pad dry, flat, and wrinkle-free, and the space between the body position pad and the skin is smooth without skin extrusion. Regularly check the patient's physical condition, take auxiliary measures, and pay attention to the operating skills during the operation to avoid unnecessary damage to the patient.

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Editor: kiki Jia

Date: August 23, 2023