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BEDSORE

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Originally appearing in Volume V03, Page 625 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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BEDSORE , a See also:

form of ulceration or sloughing, occasioned in See also:people who, through sickness or old See also:age, are confined to See also:bed, resulting from pressure or the irritation of sweat and dirt. Bedsores usually occur when there is a See also:low See also:condition of See also:nutrition of the tissues. The more helpless the patient the more liable he is to bedsores, and especially when he is paralysed, delirious or insane, or when suffering from one of the acute specific fevers. They may occur wherever there is a pressure, more especially when any moisture is allowed to remain on the bedding; and thus lack of cleanliness is an important See also:factor in the See also:production of this condition, In large hospitals a bedsore is now a See also:great rarity, and this, considering the helplessness of many of the patients treated, shows what See also:good See also:nursing can do. The bed must be made with a See also:firm smooth See also:mattress; the undersheet and blanket must be changed whenever they become soiled; the drawsheet is spread without creases, and changed the moment it becomes soiled. Preventive treatment must be followed from the first See also:day of the illness. This consists in the most See also:minute See also:attention to cleanliness, and See also:constant variation in the position of the patient. All parts subjected to pressure or See also:friction must be frequently washed with See also:soap and hot See also:water, then thoroughly dried with a warm soft See also:towel. The See also:part should next be bathed in a See also:solution of corrosive sublimate in See also:spirits of See also:wine, and finally dusted with an See also:oxide of See also:zinc and See also:starch See also:powder. This routine should be gone through not less than four times in the twenty-four, See also:hours in any See also:case of prolonged illness. The pressure may be relieved over bony prominences by a water-See also:pillow or by a piece of thick See also:felt cut into a See also:ring. Signs of impending bedsores must constantly be watched for.

Where one threatens, the skin loses its proper See also:

colour, becoming either a deadly See also:white or a dusky red, and the redness does not disappear on pressure. The surrounding tissues become oedematous, and See also:pain is often severe, except in a case of See also:paralysis. As the condition progresses further the pain ceases. The epidermis now becomes raised as in a See also:blister, and finally becomes detached, forming an excoriation and exposing the papillae. Even at this See also:late See also:stage an actual ulceration can still be prevented if proper care is taken; but failing this, the skin sloughs and an See also:ulcer forms. In treating this, the position of the patient must be such that no pressure is ever allowed on the sloughing See also:tissue. A hot boracic See also:pad under oil-See also:silk should be applied, the affected part being first dusted with See also:iodoform. If, however, the See also:slough is very large, it is safer to avoid wet applications, and the parts should be dusted with See also:animal See also:charcoal and iodoform, and protected with a dry dressing. When the slough has separated and the sore is clean, See also:friar's See also:balsam will hasten the healing See also:process. In any serious illness the formation of a bedsore makes the See also:prognosis far more See also:grave, and may even bring about a fatal issue, either directly or indirectly.

End of Article: BEDSORE

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