Albumin administration prevents the onset of pressure ulcers in intensive care unit patients

Abstract

Pressure ulcers (PUs) are a common problem in critically ill patients admitted to the intensive care units (ICUs) and they account for more than 70% of patients with low serum albumin at admission. The aim of this study was to test the efficacy of intravenous administration of albumin in patients with low serum albumin < 3·3 g/dl. In a 1-year period, a total of 73 patients were admitted to the ICU (males 45, 61·64% and females 28, 38·36%); of these, 21 patients were admitted with hypoalbuminaemia (serum albumin < 3·3 g/dl) and randomised into two groups: 11 patients were treated with 25 g intravenous albumin for the first 3 days within the first week of ICU stay (group A) and 10 patients did not receive albumin (group B). Three patients (27·27%) showed the onset of PUs in group A, whereas seven patients (70%) showed the onset of PUs within the first 7 days of stay in group B. Moreover, ulcers of group B were more severe than those of group A. This study shows that intravenous administration of albumin reduces the onset of PUs in patients admitted to the ICU and in some cases it also reduces the risk of progression to advanced stages of PUs.

Pressure ulcer risk assessment: retrospective analysis of Braden Scale scores in Portuguese hospitalised adult patients

“…, Uzun & Tan , Serra et al . ) and lower body mass index (Uzun & Tan , Serra et al . ) have increased risk for pressure ulcer development.…”

“…) and lower body mass index (Uzun & Tan , Serra et al . ) have increased risk for pressure ulcer development. Thus, the low correlations between ‘nutrition’ sub‐scale and Braden Scale or pressure ulcer development may indicate that nutrition has not been accessed objectively, has low sensitivity as biological measure of nutrition and gives no guarantee of inter‐rater reliability between health care workers (Sharp & McLaws ).…”

Pressure injuries in elderly with acute myocardial infarction

“…Plasma protein levels depend on the nutritional status, 33 and a close association between hypoalbuminemia and PI development has been reported. 34 It is worth noting that while albumin and troponin I levels were significantly different between groups with and without PIs at univariate analysis, these factors did not come out to be significantly associated with PI incidence at the logistic regression analysis. In this regard it is important to underline that the exclusion of a candidate factor from the final model is the combination of several features including, but not limited to, low variability of the factor within the population that results in a weak undetected effect, and/or a study power not adequate to identify an otherwise weak effect, and/or a weak effect in the population considered, and/or capture of a weak effect by other factors present in the model.…”

Pressure ulcers’ incidence, preventive measures, and risk factors in neonatal intensive care and intermediate care units

“…It could be interesting to evaluate the relationship between neonatal serum albumin and pressure ulceration as previously tested in a hospitalised adult population . If this association is confirmed, the hospitalised neonatal population could be benefited by intravenous albumin administration to at least reduce the onset of PUs …”

“…46 If this association is confirmed, the hospitalised neonatal population could be benefited by intravenous albumin administration to at least reduce the onset of PUs. 47 Another limitation would be the small sample of infants at risk due to some specific factors, including hypothermia, ECMO, high-frequency oscillatory ventilation, or high-flow oxygen therapy, as these have a significant association with PUs. It is necessary to conduct studies with a larger sample in order to assess the real magnitude of these factors.…”