A team of researchers, including students from the UCLA School of Nursing, have been awarded the Shining Light Award for their research poster at the annual conference of the Association for the Advancement of Wound Care.
The award acknowledges research making an impact on wound prevention and care.
Led by faculty members in the UCLA Schools of Nursing and Medicine, the poster, titled Decreasing Interoperative Skin Damage in Prone Position Surgeries, examined various techniques for reducing skin damage in surgical patients.
Research Abstract:
Preventing intraoperative acquired PrIs (IAPrIs) among patients undergoing prone position surgery is challenging due to positioning required for surgical access, limited availability of pressure reduction surfaces for operating tables, and difficulties detecting and ascribing IAPrIs to surgery. Use of subepidermal moisture (SEM) values may help with detection issues and use of silicone foam dressings on sacrum and heels for supine position surgery have decreased IAPIs, so this approach may also be beneficial for prone surgery.This prospective intervention clinical trial of patients (n=40 pre-intervention and n=50 intervention) undergoing neurological or orthopedic prone position surgery examined use of multidimensionally flexible silicone foam (MFSF) dressings applied to face, chest, and iliac crest pre-operatively to prevent IAPrIs. Research staff obtained visual assessments and SEM values pre-operatively, post-operatively, and daily up to 5 days or discharge. Erythema was rated as present/absent, and for severity.
Of participants with no erythema pre-op, fewer intervention participants exhibited post-op erythema minimal severity or greater on the forehead, left cheek, and iliac crests than pre-intervention participants. Post-op SEM difference greater than 0.5 indicated IAPrI. Fewer intervention participants had SEM defined IAPrI across all anatomic locations than pre-intervention. These patterns continued until discharge.
Patients undergoing prone surgeries showed less skin damage and erythema and demonstrated stable SEM values indicating no skin damage when a multidimensionally flexible silicone foam dressing was applied prior to surgery. SEM values detected more skin damage than visual assessment.
Research team members:
- Barbara M. Bates-Jensen, PhD, RN, FAAN | UCLA School of Nursing
- Heather E. McCreath, PhD | UCLA School of Medicine
- Jessica Crocker | Project Director
- Vicky M. Nguyen | MECN student
- Lauren Robertson | Research staff
- Deborah Nourmand | MECN alumni
- Emily Chirila | BS student
- Mohamed Laayouni | MECN student
- Ofelia E. Offendel | MECN student
- Kelly Peng | MECN student
- Stephanie Anne Romero | MECN student
- Gerry Fulgentes, MSN, RN, CWOCN, PCCN | Registered Nurse, UCLA Santa Monica Medical Center
