Pilot parallel randomised controlled trial of protective socks against usual care to reduce skin tears in high risk people: 'STOPCUTS'.

Background: Skin tears are common in older adults and those taking steroids and warfarin. They are traumatic, often blunt injuries caused by oblique knocks to the extremities. The epidermis may separate from the dermis or both layers from underlying tissues leaving a skin flap or total loss of tissue, which is painful and prone to infection.

Pilot randomised controlled trial of protective socks against usual care to reduce skin tears in high risk people "STOPCUTS": study protocol.

Background: Skin tears are traumatic injuries occurring mostly on the extremities due to shearing and friction forces that separate the epidermis and the dermis from underlying tissues. They are common and occur mostly in older adults and those taking medications that compromise skin integrity. Pretibial skin tears can develop into leg ulcers, which require lengthy, expensive treatment to heal.