Bedsores, or pressure wounds, are among the most common injuries experienced by elderly nursing home residents and bedridden or wheelchair-bound patients. A bedsore occurs when an individual is unable to change their position, causing prolonged, unrelieved pressure at contact points, particularly on the bottom, shoulders, hips, the back of the legs, and the back of the head. Bedsores are more prevalent in the elderly due to their age-softened skin and muscle tissue, as well as a slower cell regeneration process for healing. Contact our St. Louis elder abuse attorney to hold negligent nursing homes accountable for bedsore injuries.
What are the Stages of Bedsores?
The healing process of a bedsore depends on how far the wound has developed before treatment. The earlier the treatment for a bedsore begins, the faster and more successful the patient’s recovery. Understanding the following stages of bedsore development can help with the assessment and prognosis for recovery:
- Stage 1 bedsores are a reddened or darkened section of skin that’s sensitive and warm to the touch. On darker skin, the spot may be bluish or purple. Stage 1 bedsores do not include broken skin.
- Stage 2 bedsores are painful and include a blister on the reddened or darkened area breaking the surface of the skin.
- Stage 3 bedsores are open wounds forming a crater below the skin’s surface and into the underlying fat and muscle. They are extremely painful and may include a large reddened portion of surrounding tissue that feels hot to the touch.
- Stage 4 bedsores are large, open wounds that may expose the underlying muscle tissue extending as far as the bone. Stage 4 bedsores are excruciating and almost always infected.
If a stage 4 pressure sore isn’t aggressively treated with surgical intervention and antibiotic therapy, it could lead to life-threatening sepsis and the possibility of organ failure and death.
What Is the Timeline for Healing Bedsores?
The amount of time required for healing a bedsore depends on its severity. The general timeline for recovery at each stage of a bedsore is as follows:
- A stage-1 bedsore may only require a few days of relieved pressure to heal, keeping the area warm and dry during treatment
- A stage-2 bedsore takes between three days and up to two weeks to heal, depending on the individual’s health. Healing requires the area to remain free from pressure through a change in position. The blister should be gently cleansed and kept moisturized under a clean dressing. Any dead tissue should be removed through debridement.
- A stage-3 bedsore requires careful cleaning and the debridement of dead tissue, either through surgery or enzyme treatment. The sore requires specialized wound care, often including antibiotic treatment. The healing timeline for properly treated stage-3 bedsores ranges between three weeks and several months.
- Stage-4 bedsores are life-threatening in elderly or immunocompromised individuals, often leading to sepsis. Treatment requires surgical intervention to remove the dead and damaged tissue and close the wound. Stage 4 bedsores require antibiotic treatment, often through IV antibiotics with close monitoring. Stage-4 bedsores may take up to six months to heal and may persist for a year or more in diabetics or those with weakened immune systems.
The best treatment for bedsores is preventing their occurrence in individuals who are bedridden. Bedsores often occur due to nursing home neglect. Nursing home caregivers have a legal obligation to promptly identify and treat bedsores in their earliest stages by changing the affected individual’s position to relieve pressure. Failing to prevent or correctly identify bedsores is neglect, a dangerous form of elder abuse or nursing abuse. Let our personal injury lawyer in St. Louis handle your case.