This meta-analysis investigated the effectiveness of a pressure-relieving intervention on the incidence of heel pressure ulcers in a variety of settings. Literature searches of Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, MEDLINE, PubMed, EMBASE and Cochrane databases were conducted for English-language articles that investigated the effect of pressure relief interventions with or without concurrent prevention programs on the number of heel ulcers occurring on adult humans in a controlled clinical design. Full articles were selected from citations based upon consensus between at least two independent reviewers. Methodological quality of each study was assessed using the Jadad and PEDro scales. A quantitative analysis was performed to determine and compare relative risk (RR) between pressure relief programs/devices that were classified according to similarity of interventions. Fourteen studies that involved a total of 1457 subjects were selected from a total of 105 full articles reviewed. Pressure-reducing/relieving surfaces were associated with a significantly lower incidence of heel ulcers compared with standard hospital mattresses (RR = 0.50, 95% CI = 0.26-0.93, P < 0.03). Foam mattresses also significantly reduced the risk of developing heel ulcers. There is evidence to support the use of certain air or foam mattresses/overlays in the prevention of heel pressure ulcers when compared with a standard hospital mattress. There is insufficient research available at this time to determine if heel-protective devices can prevent heel pressure ulcers. These results need to be interpreted with caution given the relatively low number and poor quality of research articles available to date.