Effectiveness of a pressure-redistributing cushion for low- to medium-risk patients in care homes.

A small, non-controlled evaluation set out to assess the effectiveness of the Airospring AS200 cushion in preventing the development of pressure ulcers in patients in nursing/care home and hospice settings. Ten patients, assessed as being at low-to-medium risk of pressure ulceration, were recruited into the evaluation; the mean age was 82.7 years. Of these, nine were living in nursing/care homes and one in a hospice. The follow-up period was 4 weeks for nursing/care home patients and 2 weeks for the hospice patient. Seven patients had a cognitive impairment. All patients were chairfast or had limited mobility. Of the 10 patients, one (from a care home) was withdrawn from the evaluation at week 2 because of a deterioration in her condition, although her skin remained intact. At the end of the follow-up period, the sacral skin was still intact in seven patients out of the nine remaining, but one patient developed persistent signs of blanching erythema. These preliminary results indicate that this pressure-redistributing cushion is largely effective in preventing pressure ulceration.