Assessment and prevention are the keys to protecting pediatric patients from pressure injuries secondary to CPAP therapy, says Korina Flint, RRT. Flint will be discussing more details of her approach to preventing pediatric pressure injuries during a breakout session (“Multi-Disciplinary Approach to Addressing Pediatric Pressure Injuries Secondary to PAP Therapy”) at the 2018 AAST Annual Meeting, to be held Sept 28-30 in Indianapolis.

“Initially, I became interested in this topic because of my experience with outpatients in clinic that developed pressure injuries secondary to their PAP interface,” Flint says. “However, subsequently I became involved in using similar methods and approaches with our inpatients, who are at an even higher risk of developing pressure injuries from PAP interfaces. A multidisciplinary team, including myself, was formed at our hospital in response to a need for more assessment and prevention of these injuries.”

At the Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin, the team now recommends foam padding be used under all inpatient PAP interfaces preventively, as recommended by the Children’s Hospitals’ Solutions for Patient Safety “SPS Prevention Bundles” guidelines. Flint adds, “We are much more proactive about using a barrier (foam padding or a cloth liner) or performing a mask fitting at the first sign of risk for a pressure injury in both the inpatient and outpatient setting.”

The session’s main learning objectives are 1) identify steps and methods for preventing pressure injuries in patients using PAP therapy; and 2) explore the role of sleep technologists and respiratory therapists in preventing and addressing skin issues from PAP therapy.

“We have found that allocating resources to skin breakdown really pays off, although it is not easy to do in the current healthcare climate,” Flint says. “I would love to see a shift to more offense, versus defense.”

Sree Roy is editor of Sleep Review.

Reference

1. SPS Prevention Bundles. Children’s Hospitals’ for Patient Safety. Available at https://www.solutionsforpatientsafety.org/wp-content/uploads/SPS-Prevention-Bundles.pdf.