Pressure Injury Case Study

Running head: PRESSURE INJURY CASE STUDY
Pressure Injury Case Study
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1PRESSURE INJURY CASE STUDY
Introduction:
Among a myriad of different health issues that might affect the patients of the long term
ICU patients, the prevalence of pressure injuries is considerably high. The pressure injuries or
pressures ulcers have emerged as a very common and critical exacerbation for critically ill
patients or patients with mobility restriction and are bedridden (Beeckman et al., 2014).
Similarly, the critically ill patients require long period of rest and are on bed rest which makes
such patients extremely vulnerable to the possibility of acquiring pressure injuries or pressure
ulcers. Moreover, as the ICU patients are already dealing with many critical illnesses, they
already have compromised state of immunity. As a result, such patients have a far higher risk of
acquiring pressure injuries, facilitated by the lack of the body's ability to fight back against
infection by innate immunity. Pressure injuries are painful, difficult to treat and extremely
discomforting exacerbation that complicates the recovery for the patients and also intensifies the
discomfort pain and struggle for the patient in hospice stay (Dealey et al., 2015). This essay will
attempt to explore the literature on pressure injuries and its management for ICU patients and
relate it to the case study of Joseph concluding with a plan of care applicable to the scenario.
Case description:
The assignment focuses on the case study of a patient named Joseph Russo from Italy. He
had been a very devoted family man and had been a thorough carer for his wife dealing with
COPD for a long time. Although, the financial stress, his progressing age and the physical and
emotional exhaustion of caring full time for his wife took a toll on his health and he suffered the
heart attack. The patient was immediately transferred to the ICU and he suffered a few risky
exacerbations in the ICU while being ventilated including a complex central line associated
bloodstream infection. However, the infection happened in the insertion site of his CVC although

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it was controlled within the eighth day and the patient Joseph Russo also gained consciousness
soon after. However, soon the patient developed a pressure injury in one of his heels as
evidenced by the care professional designated to him and he had fluid filled blisters in his left
feet. The pressure ulcer was red, filled with fluid and was quite large in size being 3 cm/ 3 cm in
measurement. He was planned to be discharged within the the next couple of days as his
symptoms were stable and under control although his pressure ulcer was intact and had no signs
of being recovering. Hence, upon discharge planning, the care professionals would also need to
educate his family and daughter specifically on proper management and care taking for the
pressure ulcer and his rest of the health problems.
Literature on pressure injuries and its management:
There is mounting evidence on the occurrence, characteristics and management of
pressure injuries. However, specific focus on management and treatment of pressure injuries for
ICU patients is limited. However, first and foremost, the concept of pressure injuries is needed to
be identified and explored. As discussed by Ness et al. (2018), a pressure injury can be identified
as a localized damage to the skin and the underlying soft tissues usually caused over a bony
prominence or related to the use of any medical or other devices inserted inside the body, which
is also infected. The presence of pressure injuries can be in the form of intact skin or they can
also represent open answers that are filled with pus like fluid. Pressure injuries are very common
occurrence for patients that are bedridden with long term illnesses. However, there surely are a
few very critical and effective risk factors which enhance the probability and risk of pressure
injuries higher (Edsberg et al., 2016). These risk factors include age related immune-
compromised state, obesity, high blood glucose levels, arteriosclerosis and blood pressure
irregularities, etc. Discussing the process of development of the pressure injuries, it has to be