Pressure Ulcer
A localised injury to skin and/or underlying tissue, typically over a bony prominence, resulting from sustained pressure or pressure combined with shear; classified by severity using a standardised staging system.
Full Definition
A pressure ulcer (also termed pressure injury in updated nomenclature adopted by the National Pressure Injury Advisory Panel [NPIAP] in 2016) is tissue damage caused by unrelieved mechanical loading, often compounded by shear and moisture. In rehab technology, pressure ulcer prevention and management are primary drivers for seating and positioning device prescription, including pressure-redistributing cushions and tilt-in-space systems. Editors must be alert to the terminology shift from 'pressure ulcer' (older, still widely used clinically and in ICD coding) to 'pressure injury' (NPIAP preferred term since 2016), and should follow the publication's stated style guide. Staging (I–IV, unstageable, deep tissue pressure injury) must be rendered consistently and with correct Roman numeral capitalisation.
Usage
Usage note: Check the publication's style guide: post-2016 NPIAP guidance prefers 'pressure injury'; ICD-10 coding retains 'pressure ulcer'. Do not mix both terms within a single document without editorial justification.
In Context
- "A history of Stage III pressure ulcers at the ischial tuberosities necessitated a high-specification pressure-redistributing cushion." — Seating evaluation report
- "The editor noted that the manuscript used 'pressure ulcer' and 'pressure injury' interchangeably and recommended standardising to the journal's preferred term throughout." — Peer-review annotation