Abstract: Ultrasound has been used for the treatment of a variety of cutaneous wounds, particularly venous ulcers. Many of the published studies involved application of ultrasound to the surrounding tissue rather than directly over the wound. Insonating the wound itself may enhance the healing process, but the lack of data regarding the transmission characteristics of dressings has limited the use of this option. This study aimed to measure the ultrasound transmissivity of dressings commonly employed for wound management. Forty-eight different dressings and wound care products were tested in vitro using a radiation force balance. Transmissivity was found to vary significantly between dressings, from excellent to zero. These findings may be useful to clinicians in deciding whether to apply ultrasound through a particular dressing. They could also inform future studies of the efficacy of ultrasound in wound management by application directly to wounds rather than to their periphery.

Countermeasures for pressure ulcers, which have been promoted as a national policy in Japan since 2002, have reduced the development of new pressure ulcers due to insufficient observation or treatment. On the other hand, it has become clear that pressure ulcers continue to develop in patients with cancer. The authors evaluated 419 patients (202 of whom had cancer) who had newly developed pressure ulcers. The following results were obtained: 1) among patients with terminal illnesses, cancer patients outnumbered noncancer patients; 2) there was no difference between the cancer patient group and the noncancer patient group regarding time required to heal ulcers; 3) there was no difference between the groups in the time from the development of pressure ulcer until the patients died; 4) patients with cancer were more likely to develop pressure ulcers compared to patients without cancer, even though their risk scores analysis were not high. In addition to providing enough anodynes, sedatives

Purpose. To evaluate risk factors for pressure ulcers (PU) in hospitalized elderly without significant cognitive impairment. Methods. From July 2005 to February 2006, 40 hospitalized elderly patients without cognitive deficit were evaluated in a university hospital in Pouso Alegre, Brazil. Twenty patients with a PU formed the study group and 20 without a PU formed the control group. The Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) was used to assess cognitive status. Pressure ulcers were classified using the National Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel (NPUAP) guidelines, followed by evaluation of risk factors for PU using the Braden scale. The chi-squared test was applied and for the Braden scale the Mann-Whitney test was used. Results. In the study group, 14 (70%) of the subjects were women and 6 (30%) were men. The average age was 71.5 years. The average score for the MMSE was 19.7. The average time of hospitalization was 23.1 days for the study group and 13 days for the control. In the Braden sc