Management of chronic pressure ulcers

Many areas of the body, especially the sacrum and the heel, are prone to the development of pressure ulcers. [...] Pressure ulcers have been shown to increase the risk of mortality among geriatric patients by as much as 400%, increase the frequency and duration of hospitalization, and decrease the quality of life of affected patients. [...] Differences in the direction of effect, the size of differences in effect, and the significance of the differences guide the decision about whether important inconsistency exists. [...] Only 6 of the wounds in the tap water group and 2 of the wounds in the saline group were pressure ulcers. [...] Both arms showed an increase in the mean volume of the pressure ulcer but the increase was significantly smaller in the collagenase arm than in the placebo arm (Figure 3) Figure 3: Forest Plot of Mean Percentage Change In Volume of Ulcers – Collagenase Versus Placebo Review: Pressure Ulcer Treatment Comparison: 02 Pressure Ulcer Outcome: 09 Collagenase vs Placebo - Mean change in volume of Pressur