Pressure on bony prominences in the dorsal, lateral, and ventral decubitus: a clinical trial

Abstract

Objective: To identify pressure on bony prominences in the supine, lateral, and prone positions. Method: Phase I, experimental, non-randomized clinical study comparing interface pressures on bony prominences in three positions (dorsal, lateral, and ventral) in healthy individuals. Pressure was measured with the SR Soft Vision® sensor in all participants, positioned in the three decubitus positions and on 10 C-CORE® mattresses. Comparison of total pressure per decubitus position was performed by ANOVA. Results: 448 assessments were performed in each decubitus position. The mean pressure was 652.3 (95% CI: 592.9–711.7) in the dorsal decubitus, 1.522.2 (95% CI: 1.423.0–1.621.4) in the lateral decubitus, and 313.2 (95% CI: 275.2–351.3) in the ventral decubitus. When stratified by sex (p < 0.001), in females, the mean pressure was 540.08 in the dorsal position, 1.200.9 in the lateral position, and 169.2 in the ventral position. In males, it was 761.3 in the dorsal position, 1.842.0 in the lateral position, and 455.3 in the ventral position. Stratification by weight also showed significant differences (p < 0.001) between decubitus positions. Conclusion: This study demonstrated significant variation in interface pressures between dorsal, lateral, and ventral decubitus positions. Registration in ReBEC: RBR-9vsvkn5.