- Pressure ulcers increase the risk of death by 4.5% in patients with comorbidities such as diabetes and hypertension.
- Wound clinics for pressure injuries provide screening for risk factors, diagnosis, and timely treatment.
- It is documented that 95% of pressure ulcers are preventable.
Injuries are all too common and although many times they can be treated without complications, there are also others that require a specialized service. For this purpose, one of the projects of the Ministry of Health (SSa) is the creation of the Wound Clinics.
The first thing to understand is that there are several types but one Pressure injury is an injury to areas of the body where the bone presses the skin against an exterior surface. When that happens it can cause ulceration. The most commonly affected areas are the hip bones, heels, and lower back, at the level of the sacrum.
The main causes for a lesion of this type to form is friction between a surface and the skin, due to a force or sliding pressure applied in parallel planes, which causes a lesion in the dermis, also known as shearing. Other factors are immobility, malnutrition, altered consciousness, incontinence, and advanced age.
All that exist in Mexico
However, to offer this service the SSa has 301 Wound Clinics distributed in 21 states. All provide interdisciplinary attention to problems such as pressure injuries, risk factor detection services, diagnosis and timely treatment, which favors the quality of life of patients.
During the inauguration of the 8th National and International Meeting of Wound Clinic Leaders and 11th World Day to Stop Pressure Injuriescoordinated by the Nursing Department of the General Directorate of Quality and Health Education (DGCES) of the SSa, experts on the subject highlighted that pressure ulcers increase the risk of death by 4.5 percent in patients with comorbidities such as diabetes and hypertension.
In this context, the meeting and the day aim to consolidate the competencies of health professionals, through technical and behavioral training to improve their performance and reinforce the values of care. In fact, it is documented that 95 percent of pressure ulcers are preventable.
national strategy
Since 2013, our country has a national strategy called: Standardization of the care and treatment of patients with wounds through the Wound Clinics in the National Health System. All are located in first, second and third level care medical units.
Another objective of the event is to size up the problem of pressure ulcers and other chronic wounds, and promote dissemination of these health problems to reduce their incidence and prevalence.
It has the participation of the Ibero-Latin American Society on Ulcers and Wounds, and the National Group for the Study and Advice on Pressure Ulcers and Chronic Wounds (GNEAUPP).
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