Wound-care teams for preventing and treating pressure ulcers

Background Pressure ulcers, which are localised injury to the skin or underlying tissue, or both, occur when people are unable to reposition themselves to relieve pressure on bony prominences. Pressure ulcers are often difficult to heal, painful and impact negatively on the individual's quality of life. The cost implications of pressure ulcer treatment are considerable, compounding the challenges in providing cost effective, efficient health service delivery. International guidelines suggest that to prevent and manage pressure ulcers successfully a team approach is required. Therefore, this review has been conducted to clarify the role of wound-care teams in the prevention and management of pressure ulcers. Objectives To assess the impact of wound-care teams in preventing and treating pressure ulcers in people of any age, nursed in any healthcare setting. Search methods In April 2015 we searched: The Cochrane Wounds Group Specialised Register; The Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) (The Cochrane Library); Ovid MEDLINE; Ovid MEDLINE (In-Process & Other Non-Indexed Citations); Ovid EM-BASE and EBSCO CINAHL. There were no restrictions with respect to language, date of publication or study setting. Selection criteria We considered RCTs that evaluated the effect of any configuration of wound-care teams in the treatment or prevention of pressure ulcers. Data collection and analysis Two review authors independently assessed titles and, where available, abstracts of the studies identified by the search strategy for their eligibility. We obtained full versions of potentially relevant studies and two review authors independently screened these against the inclusion criteria. Main results We identified no studies that met the inclusion criteria. Authors' conclusions We set out to evaluate the RCT evidence pertaining to the impact of wound-care teams on the prevention and management of pressure ulcers. However, no studies met the inclusion criteria. There is a lack of evidence concerning whether wound-care teams make a difference to the incidence or healing of pressure ulcers. Well-designed trials addressing important clinical, quality of life and economic outcomes are justified, based on the incidence of the problem and the high costs associated with pressure ulcer management.