Pressure injuries in critically ill patients are more common than one might hope. In fact, the crude prevalence of hospital-acquired pressure injuries in intensive care units (ICUs) hits a staggering 9.6%. That’s not just a number—it’s an alarm bell. Overall, pressure injuries loom over 60.9% of critical care units. You read that right. A meta-analysis even shows that 16.6% of ICU patients are slapped with hospital-acquired pressure injuries.
Let’s compare that to the non-ICU world. Here, the rate plummets to a mere 2.1%. Talk about a disparity! Intensive care patients are at a higher risk. Why? Well, longer stays, older age, and factors like haemodynamic instability and immobility crank up the vulnerability.
So, where do these pesky injuries like to pop up? Sacrum, coccyx, and heels—those are the VIP spots for pressure injuries in ICUs. Stages I and II injuries are the usual suspects. Oh, and don’t forget the medical device-related injuries that account for a fun 23.0% of cases.
Incidence rates aren’t any prettier. They range from 10.0% to 25.9% in critically ill patients. Some studies even report numbers soaring as high as 50%. It’s almost impressive, in a grim sort of way. After all, the ideal prevalence should be below 2%. Good luck with that in an ICU.
