Abstract
In recent years, wound dressings have been applied for the purpose of preventing pressure ulcers, and their effectiveness has been reported. In this study, we examined the effectiveness of preventing sacral pressure ulcers by using multi-layer soft silicone foam dressing for the sacrum （Mepilex® Border Protect sacrum） in high-risk patients with a high incidence of pressure ulcers in our acute ward. During the two years from April 2017 to March 2019, a silicone foam dressing for the sacrum was applied to high-risk patients with pressure ulcers in the sacral region with daily life independence level B and C in the ward of this. We compared high-risk patients with pressure ulcers with similar high-risk patients with standard precautions. The subjects were 73 patients who were judged to be at high risk for pressure ulcers and had pressure ulcer prevention treatment and sacral silicone foam dressing, and 69 who had only pressure ulcer prevention treatment. Sacral pressure ulcers occurred in 2 patients （2.7%） in the group with sacral silicone foam, and sacral pressure ulcers occurred in 15 patients （21.7%） in the group with only pressure ulcer prevention treatment. （P‹0.05）. In this study, it was shown that multi-layer silicone foam dressing is effective in preventing pressure ulcers even in acute wards. Factors that can be considered include the high adhesion from the sacrum to the gluteal area compared to conventional dressing materials, which is difficult to peel off, and the reduction of compression, shear force, and friction due to the five-layer structure. In the future, in order for this foam dressing to be widely used in clinical practice, it will be necessary to study cost-effectiveness.
