Duplication Study of Development of Risk Assessment Tool for Intraoperative Pressure Ulcers

Duplication Study of Development of a Risk Assessment Tool for Intraoperative Pressure Ulcers
^{Topic: Relative to wounds Purpose: Patients undergoing surgery are at high risk of developing pressure ulcers for numerous reasons. Until recently, the intra-operative timeframe has been overlooked as a time of risk. There is no validated tool for determining which patients are at high risk during this time frame. The purpose of this study is to test one dedicated interrater that is in the operating theatre during the intra-operative period to gathering data on patients with the tool developed by the original authors.}

^{Objective: The objective is to validate the capacity of the tool to determine risk of patients undergoing surgery developing pressure ulcers during the intra operative period. The original study using the tool was done to test interrater reliability with data gathers in the operating room and reviewing the chart retrospectively was found to be unreliable. The current study was done with one data gatherer that was allowed in the operating theatre during the time of surgery with forty-two patients being followed. Outcomes: Using an Excel spreadsheet, all the data from the tool was compiled from the forty-two cases. For simple assemblage of yes/no answers the “count if” method of calculation was used to derive outcomes. Four patients developed pressure ulcers during the intra-operative period. This lends merit to the value of the tool for having indicators that may predict pressure ulcer risk in the intra-operative period. The data collected was more complete and thorough than either of the methods in the initial study. It would be indicative that an educational program on the importance of accurate data gathering within the operating theatre to again test interrater reliability could validate this tool as a method of predicting pressure ulcer formation in the intra-operative period.}