Pressure injuries, also called pressure ulcers or bedsores, develop when sustained pressure or pressure combined with shear damages skin and underlying tissue. People with limited mobility or reduced sensation are particularly vulnerable. Deeper injuries may involve muscle or bone.
Treatment centres on relieving pressure, appropriate support surfaces and repositioning, wound care, nutrition and management of infection or other barriers to healing. HBOT has been proposed as an additional treatment, but a Cochrane review of chronic wounds found no eligible randomized trials specifically addressing pressure ulcers. Benefits seen in other wound types should not be assumed to apply. HBOT remains investigational for a pressure injury itself.
Heat injuries that damage skin and deeper tissues, sometimes causing swelling, infection and circulation problems.
Poor arterial blood flow can cause hard-to-heal wounds or sudden loss of retinal circulation.
A rare condition in which small blood vessels calcify and clot, causing painful skin wounds and tissue damage.
Skin grafts or tissue flaps at risk of failure because of inadequate blood flow and oxygen delivery.
Severe trauma can damage muscle and circulation, causing swelling, tissue injury and compartment syndrome.
A rapidly spreading bacterial infection that destroys muscle and soft tissue and requires emergency care.
A rare blood-vessel disorder causing painful leg ulcers, skin discoloration and characteristic scarring.
Rapidly spreading infections that destroy skin, fascia and other soft tissues and require emergency care.
Skin and tissue injuries caused by prolonged pressure or shear, especially in people with limited mobility.
A chronic immune-mediated skin condition causing inflamed, scaly plaques that may flare and remit.
A rare inflammatory skin disorder causing rapidly developing, painful ulcers, often on the legs.
Reactivation of the chickenpox virus causing a painful blistering rash and sometimes persistent nerve pain.
Severe reactions that cause widespread blistering, skin loss and injury to mucous membranes.
Chronic leg wounds caused by poor venous circulation, often with swelling and surrounding skin changes.
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