Clinical management of pressure ulcers.

Pressure ulcers are chronic and difficult to heal. Pressure-reducing devices are clearly superior to a standard hospital mattress in preventing pressure ulcers, but only limited evidence and clinical intuition supports pressure-reducing devices in improving the healing rate of pressure ulcers. Local wound treatment should aim at maintaining a moist wound environment. The choice of a particular dressing depends on wound characteristics, such as the amount of exudate, dead space, or wound location. Nutritional status should be addressed as a process of good care. Debridement may improve time to a clean wound bed, but no clearly superior approach has been demonstrated.