Sitting Biomechanics Laboratory

Part of the
Sensory Motor Performance Program
Room 1340, Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago

Clinical Trials on Preventing/Treating Pressure Ulcers in Wheelchair Users with SCI

Clinical Trial 1 (in RIC and Schwab Rehabilitation Hospital at Chicago): Promoting Pressure Ulcer Healing Process using iPUPc

Participants: 44 SCI individuals who were under pressure ulcer (Stage I~III) treatment. 22 were randomly assigned to using iPUPc wheelchair, the rest 22 were using regular wheelchair.

Wound assessment was performed twice a week for 30+ days.


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Groups:

An experimental group (using iPUPc wheelchair) and a control group (using regular wheelchair).

Measurement:

Wound assessment using PUSH tool and VeV wound assessment software.

Initial results:

iPUPc wheelchair is seen to promote the healing of established PU. Patients in iPUPc group had significantly faster healing of their PU than that from a control group.

Typical Results:

Top: A patient with a pressure ulcer who used a regular wheelchair (Control) Bottom: A patient with a pressure ulcer who used a wheelchair with iPUPc

Cumulative healing probability for wound area closure in 30 days of treatment

  • All 22 cases in iPUPc group achieved 20% of wound closure, while only 9 cases in Control did
  • For 10~30% of wound closure, iPUPc group had significantly higher probability to achieve the healing goal
  • Wound area closure rate was 21.7±14.6 mm2/day for iPUPc group and 2.3±20.4 mm2/day for Control group with significant difference (P<0.001).

Conclusion

Our clinical study shows that periodically removing pressure from ischia and sacrum helps promote PU healing. Our results demonstrate that the iPUPc seating system is both safe for use in patients with established PUs, and promotes healing of established PUs, as a result of pressure relief, increased tissue perfusion, and improved ventilation.

Publication:

Pressure Ulcer Healing using a New Pressure-relief Seating Design - RESNA 29th Int. Conf., June 22-26, 2006 (pdf)

Last updated May 25, 2008 by Makhsous.
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