Odleżyny — rola stanu odżywienia i leczenie żywieniowe

Pressure ulcers are chronic wounds characterized by damage to the skin and underlying tissues caused by prolonged pressure or pressure combined with friction or shear. Pressure injuries are a serious clinical problem in hospitalized patients, residents of long-term care centers, and immobilized patients. Pressure sore prevention programs, including early mobilization, regular repositioning, specialized nursing care, and pressure-relieving and pressure-redistributing devices, are standard procedures in hospitals. The treatment of pressure ulcers and their complications requires multidisciplinary management associated with high costs and prolonged hospitalization. In everyday clinical practice, not enough attention is paid to the role of nutrition in the prevention and healing of pressure ulcers. In this study, the significance of nutritional status, including overweight, obesity, sarcopenic obesity, protein-energy malnutrition, and qualitative malnutrition, in the development and treatment of pressure sores was emphasized. Potentially beneficial and relevant nutritional therapy interventions in specific groups of patients with pressure injuries, for whom the data are inconsistent, were reviewed. The aim of the study was to explain the clinical challenge faced by the multidisciplinary medical team, including nutrition specialists, in implementing early nutritional assessment and nutritional prevention in order to identify risk groups, improve healing, and reduce treatment costs.