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Pressure Ulcers in the Arab World

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
Handbook of Healthcare in the Arab World

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Abstract

Pressure ulcers are a major cause of mortality, morbidity, poor quality of life, and increased health care cost and also key indicators of the quality of nursing care and patient safety in the healthcare setting, especially in intensive care units and in homes for the elderly. Although pressure ulcers are predictable, preventable, and potentially curable, they can still lead to sepsis and death. Their true incidence and prevalence rates are inaccurate (under-reported) and likely to be high despite nursing efforts.

In this chapter, we discuss the incidence and prevalence of pressure ulcers in the Arab world and consider the general and specific risk factors for pressure ulcers in the region. A comparison with worldwide prevalence rates will also be presented. Prevention starts by predicting their occurrence and identifying the patients at risk; pressure ulcers do not end despite intense nursing efforts in hospitals or in institutions for the elderly. The paramedical industry promotes a wide variety of products, starting with small pressure relief devices and leading to advanced automatic shifting pressure hospital beds and wheelchairs.

Finally, the medical and surgical managements of pressure ulcers will be discussed in depth, in addition to nutritional aspects, psychosocial impact, and financial burden on both the patients’ families and also on the health care system. We also consider the impact of negative pressure wound therapy and platelet rich plasma to the medico-surgical management of pressure ulcers. The availability of several medico-surgical and adjuvant tools limits the risk of developing non-healing pressure ulcers, even though there are instances of non-healers.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Medicine, University of Balamand, Balamand, Lebanon

    Jamil Halabi

Authors
  1. Jamil Halabi
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jamil Halabi .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. Pharmacology Therapeutics, University of British Colombia Dept. Pharmacology Therapeutics, VANCOUVER, BC, Canada

    Ismail Laher

Section Editor information

  1. Department of Community Medicine, Public Health and Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Jordan University of Science & Technology, Irbid, Jordan

    Yousef S. Khader BDS, MSc, MSPH, MHPE, FFPH

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Halabi, J. (2020). Pressure Ulcers in the Arab World. In: Laher, I. (eds) Handbook of Healthcare in the Arab World. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-74365-3_158-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-74365-3_158-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-74365-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-74365-3

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference MedicineReference Module Medicine

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