Extrinsic factors of pressure injuries in patients during surgery: A frequency matched retrospective study

This study was to clarify the connection between extrinsic factors and the risk of perioperative pressure injuries (PIs) through the case–control approach, which involved making the intrinsic factors of the patients in the control group with no PIs consistent with those of the case group with PIs. We collected samples from a teaching hospital in Taiwan. We found a total of 132 patients deemed to have developed perioperative PIs. Using 1:2 frequency matching, we matched these cases with patients who had not developed PIs by gender, age, and BMI. Binary logistic regression analysis of the odds ratios of the extrinsic factors and PI risk revealed that the independent variables with statistical significance included duration of anaesthesia 3 h, amount of blood loss, use of electric blankets, diastolic blood pressure below 60 mmHg during surgery, and oxyhemoglobin saturation by pulse oximetry (SPO2) below 93% during surgery. Emphasis should be placed on cooperation among the medical team during surgery, less use of electric blankets, control over the duration of anaesthesia and blood loss, continuous monitoring of the patient during surgery for any emergencies, and the maintenance of patient diastolic blood pressure and blood oxygen levels to reduce the risk of PIs.