Article

The paper reviews the natural history and treatment of pressure sores and describes a preliminary double-blind randomised trial to test the efficacy of ultrasound therapy on this condition. It was found that although ultrasound appears to be of value in the treatment of pressure sores, the complexity of other factors involved in their healing means that a large trial involving more than 1000 patients would be needed to demonstrate this in a statistically valid manner. Infected sores heal more slowly than clean ones. While no effect of ultrasound on clean sores was observed, ultrasound therapy appeared to improve the rate of healing of infected sores. The mechanism for this effect merits further investigation. The paper reviews the natural history and treatment of pressure sores and describes a preliminary double-blind randomised trial to test the efficacy of ultrasound therapy on this condition. It was found that although ultrasound appears to be of value in the treatment of pressure sores, the complexity of other factors involved in their healing means that a large trial involving more than 1.000 patients would be needed to demonstrate this in a statistically valid manner. Infected sores heal more slowly than clean ones. While no effect of ultrasound on clean sores was observed, ultrasound therapy appeared to improve the rate of healing of infected sores. The mechanism for this effect merits further investigation.

Langue : ANGLAIS

Tiré à part : OUI

Identifiant basis : 1985103520