Of all patients in a hospital environment, trauma patients may be particularly at
risk for developing (device-related) pressure ulcers (PUs), because of their traumatic
injuries, immobility, and exposure to immobilizing and medical devices. Studies on
device-related PUs are scarce. With this study, the incidence and characteristics of PUs
and the proportion of PUs that are related to devices in adult trauma patients with
suspected spinal injury were described. From January–December 2013, 254 trauma
patients were visited every 2 days for skin assessment. The overall incidence of PUs
was 28⋅3% (n = 72/254 patients). The incidence of device-related PUs was 20⋅1%
(n = 51), and 13% (n = 33) developed solely device-related PUs. We observed 145
PUs in total of which 60⋅7% were related to devices (88/145). Device-related PUs were
detected 16 different locations on the front and back of the body. These results show that
the incidence of PUs and the proportion of device-related PUs is very high in trauma
patients
