We are a 123-bed long-term care facility with a 41-bed subacute/short-term rehab unit in the Boston area. We are a prime referral site for major Boston area hospitals for the difficult-to-place clinically complex patients, including those with Stage 3 and 4 ulcers. We use an evidence-based protocol for wound care, employ a full-time staff member dedicated to wound care, do weekly rounds on all wound patients, and are proud to say we have had no G-tags in the last two years.

In June, 2006, we purchased 3 support surfaces that offer lateral rotation and alternating pressure (LRAP)*. It seemed that our wound healing rates for Stage 3 and 4 ulcers increased dramatically. We decided to do a record review to determine if our investment had been cost-effective.

For this study, we compared the wound healing rates and our cost of care for 5 patients with Stage 3 and 4 ulcers who were treated with our standard wound protocol before we began using the LRAP surface, and 5 patients after we began using this mattress, to approximate matched groups. We also looked at 2 individual patients whose wound care did not include this mattress at the start, and who did use the mattress part-way through their stay.

Data to be reported will include 1) basic patient profiles to compare age, ulcer stage and co-morbidities between the two groups, 2) wound healing rates and time-to-heal for each ulcer, and 3) estimates of cost of care for each patient. A significant decrease in the cost of care during use of the LRAP surface would indicate that our investment was worth the price.

*PressureGuard APM2 by Span-America.