7 0 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • J A N U A R Y 2 0 2 0
Your nurses no longer have to rely on their
subjective clinical judgments to assess a
patient's risk of pressure injury thanks to a
few emerging detection technologies:
• Subdermal detection systems.
Subepidermal moisture (SEM) scanners and
heat thermography scanners (pictured) can
detect pre-visual pressure injuries by measur-
ing moisture content and high temperatures
under the skin. The SEM scanners are about
the size of a smartphone, while the heat topog-
raphers resemble a mini-megaphone or police
radar gun.
There's also a financial benefit to detecting
pressure wounds that existed before patients
arrive for surgery: You can prove to insurers
that the wounds were present on admission
and avoid reimbursement penalties.
• Rotating tables. Continuous lateral rota-
tion tables use compartmentalized hydraulics to move different
body parts at different times so patients aren't in the same
position for very long. "Patients can start developing early
symptoms of a deep tissue injury during a surgery like a hip
replacement that takes a few hours," says William V. Padula,
PhD, MS, assistant professor of pharmaceutical and health
economics in the School of Pharmacy at the University of
Southern California. "Pressure ulcers can start forming earlier
High-Tech Pressure Ulcer Detection
TECHNOLOGY TO THE FORE
• UNDER THE SKIN Hand-
held devices can detect
pressure injuries by identi-
fying blood flow, perfusion
and metabolic activity that
aren't visible to the naked
eye.
University
of
Nebraska
Medical
Center
