Prevention of Pressure Ulcer in Intensive Care Units

One of the most common problems in intensive care units (ICUs) is pressure ulcer or bed sore and its prevention is a priority in nursing cares.
The current study aimed to evaluate the effect of henna (Lawsonia inermis) on prevention of pressure ulcers in patients in ICU.
Patients and The current randomized clinical trial was conducted on 80 patients with the inclusion criteria hospitalized in the ICU of Al-Zahra hospital, Isfahan, Iran in 2015. Patients were randomly allocated into two groups of control (40 patients) and intervention (40 patients) by drawing method. For the intervention group, along with the standard prevention cares for pressure ulcers, once a 15 cm thick layer of henna was applied on patients’ sacrum. Data was gathered using demographic data questionnaire, Braden scale to predict pressure ulcer risk and the table to control daily record of skin temperature before the intervention for a week. Data were analyzed using SPSS ver. 21 and Chi-square, Greenhouse Geisser, Pearson correlation coefficient and independent t-test were used in the study.
The mean age of patients in the intervention and control groups was 51.35 ± 17 and 52.94 ± 19.61years, respectively. The means of standard deviation score of the Braden scale for all the participants on the first, fourth and seventh day of the study were 12.27 ± 2.85, 14.23 ± 3.21 and 15.73 ± 3.82, respectively, which had significant differences with each other (P Considering the effect of henna in reducing the local warmth, redness, and inflammation of sacrum in patients in intensive care units, application of henna to prevent pressure ulcers for patients at risk of developing pressure ulcers is recommended.