State of the Science White Paper on Tissue Integration Management
By Brienza, David M.; Geyer, Mary Jo; Karg, Patricia; Jan, Yih-Kueen; Wheelchair Seating: A State of the Science Conference on Seating Issues for Persons With Disabilities,Publication Date: February 2001
Paper focuses on tissue integrity management, as a great deal of pressure on weight-bearing tissues can lead to pressure ulcers. The prevalence of pressure ulcers is high among older people who live in nursing homes and people with spinal cord injuries. Studies have shown that the use of pressure-reducing wheelchair seat cushions designed to maintain tissue integrity can reduce the incidence pressure ulcers caused by long periods of sitting. Tissue integrity is maintained by reducing the pressure on or near bony prominences, accommodating orthopedic deformities via immersion, enveloping irregularities at the seating interface to reduce high pressure gradient, and controlling heat and moisture. A wide range of techniques are available in order to assess the effects of pressure on tissue responses, including measurements of transcutaneous oxygen tension, Laser Doppler flowmetry, and thermography. An in-depth evaluation of a variety of techniques are included. This paper was presented at the State of the Science Conference on Seating Issues for Persons with Disabilities, which was sponsored by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research and the Rehabilitation Engineering Center on Wheeled Mobility at the University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Published by:
Rehabilitation Engineering Center on Wheeled Mobility (Web Site: http://www.rercwm.pitt.edu/ )
Link to text: http://www.rercwm.pitt.edu/RERCWM_PDF/SoSReport.pdf
