Bed Sore FAQ » Bed Sore FAQs: Common Areas for Bed Sores: The Buttocks http://www.bedsorefaq.com Mon, 06 Feb 2012 16:45:57 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Are Bed Sores Inevitable For Obese Patients In Nursing Homes & Hospitals? http://www.bedsorefaq.com/are-bed-sores-inevitable-for-obese-patients-in-nursing-homes-hospitals/ http://www.bedsorefaq.com/are-bed-sores-inevitable-for-obese-patients-in-nursing-homes-hospitals/#comments Tue, 20 Sep 2011 13:46:12 +0000 admin http://www.bedsorefaq.com/?p=3780 An article published in the Las Vegas Sun, painted an unfortunately common set of circumstances; an overweight patient goes into a hospital for a medical procedure– only to acquire pressure sores during their stay.  Sure, the same scenario can (and …

]]> An article published in the Las Vegas Sun, painted an unfortunately common set of circumstances; an overweight patient goes into a hospital for a medical procedure– only to acquire pressure sores during their stay.  Sure, the same scenario can (and most certainly does) occur with people of average stature, but there definitely is a disproportionate number of obese patients who enter a hospital or nursing home only to develop a lingering souvenir.

The sun article concentrates on 60-year-old Tyrone Bush, a maintenance man, who was admitted to Desert Springs Hospital for a quadruple heart bypass surgery in 2008.  It was during Bush’s recovery at the hospital, that he developed multiple bed sores (or pressure sores, pressure ulcers, decubitus ulcers) on his buttocks.

More than two years later, Mr. Bush continues to be plagued from the wounds and requires extensive medical treatment for them including doctors visits and debridement procedures– where the dead skin is removed to allow the new skin to grow over the open wounds.

Not surprisingly, the hospital where the wounds developed blames the wounds on Mr. Bush himself, implying that the wounds were unpreventable given his size.

Related:

What is surgical debridement of bed sores?

Simple preventative techniques can drastically reduce the rate of hospital-acquired decubitus ulcers

Why is it important to differentiate the type of facility where a bed sore developed?

Nursing Home Injury Laws: Nevada

]]> http://www.bedsorefaq.com/are-bed-sores-inevitable-for-obese-patients-in-nursing-homes-hospitals/feed/ 0 Threat Of Stiff Fines Still Fails To Reduce Rate Of Pressure Sores At Some Nursing Homes http://www.bedsorefaq.com/threat-of-stiff-fines-still-fails-to-reduce-rate-of-pressure-sores-at-some-nursing-homes/ http://www.bedsorefaq.com/threat-of-stiff-fines-still-fails-to-reduce-rate-of-pressure-sores-at-some-nursing-homes/#comments Mon, 22 Aug 2011 14:48:09 +0000 admin http://www.bedsorefaq.com/?p=3784 When nursing homes take simple, preventative steps such as: turning patients, keeping them clean, and providing adequate nutrition and hydration; they can greatly decrease the incidence of pressure sores at their facilities.  However, even though the preventative steps are well …

]]> When nursing homes take simple, preventative steps such as: turning patients, keeping them clean, and providing adequate nutrition and hydration; they can greatly decrease the incidence of pressure sores at their facilities.  However, even though the preventative steps are well known, many nursing facilities simply fail to implement the necessary care that patients require to function optimally.

I was particularly disturbed when I came across an article in the Arizona Daily Star regarding a Kindred-owned nursing home that has been repeatedly failed to provide sufficient wound care for its patients.  In fact, Villa Campana Health Care Center was most recently fined by state authorities $10,000 following a horrific chain of events involving a patient who was admitted to the facility last fall.

Within a month of entering Villa Campana, a patient developed a pressure sore on their buttocks.  Despite the staff’s documentation of the wound, little care was provided at the wound progressed to the point that bone was involved and an infection known as osteomyelitis ensued.  Eventually, the patient required multiple surgeries to treat the advanced pressure sore including a debridement surgery to remove portions of the coccyx, sacrum and surrounding tissue.

Related:

Can bed sores cause osteomyelitis?

If bed sores are not timely treated, can gangrene develop?

Nursing Home Injury Laws: Arizona

What is surgical debridement of bed sores?

]]> http://www.bedsorefaq.com/threat-of-stiff-fines-still-fails-to-reduce-rate-of-pressure-sores-at-some-nursing-homes/feed/ 0 What areas of the body are prone to develop bed sores? http://www.bedsorefaq.com/what-areas-of-the-body-are-prone-to-develop-bed-sores/ http://www.bedsorefaq.com/what-areas-of-the-body-are-prone-to-develop-bed-sores/#comments Thu, 05 Nov 2009 22:29:51 +0000 admin http://www.bedsorefaq.com/?p=514 Bed sores can develop in any area of the body where pressure is continually applied without relief.  Most frequently, we see bed sores in areas of the body that bear a majority of a person’s body weight when they sit …

]]> Bed sores can develop in any area of the body where pressure is continually applied without relief.  Most frequently, we see bed sores in areas of the body that bear a majority of a person’s body weight when they sit or lay in one position for long periods of time such as:

  • Buttocks
  • Sacrum
  • Heels
  • Back

In addition predominate weight-bearing areas, bed sores (also called: pressure sores, pressure ulcers or decubitus ulcers) can develop in any area of the body where constant pressure against the skin reduces the blood supply to that area, and the affected tissue dies.

Although less common, bed sores can develop in other areas such as:

  • The back of the head
  • Elbows
  • Shoulders
  • Ears
  • Ankles
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