Medical Adhesives and Patient Safety

TLDR

Skin injury from medical adhesive use is common yet underrecognized across all care settings and age groups, and improper application or removal can cause tissue trauma that harms patient safety, quality of life, and increases costs, yet guidance on product selection, use, and preventive skin care is scarce. A consensus panel of 23 key opinion leaders convened to develop statements on assessing, preventing, and treating medical adhesive–related skin injury. The summit, held in December 2012, was supported by an unrestricted educational grant from 3M. The resulting document presents consensus definitions and statements and outlines research priorities for new adhesive technologies and skin protection protocols. The CE test for this article is available online at the journal website and at NursingCenter.com/CE/JWOCN.

Abstract

In Brief Skin injury related to medical adhesive usage is a prevalent but underrecognized complication that occurs across all care settings and among all age groups. If proper technique for application and/or removal of adhesive products is not used, tissue trauma can occur, impacting patient safety and quality of life and increasing healthcare costs. Little guidance exists in the literature regarding appropriate selection and proper use of adhesive products to minimize medical adhesive–related skin injury, as well as best practices for skin care preventive strategies, application and removal techniques, and assessment and treatment of such injuries. In an effort to define best practices for prevention of such injury, a consensus panel of 23 recognized key opinion leaders convened to establish consensus statements on the assessment, prevention, and treatment of medical adhesive–related skin injury. The consensus summit was held in December 2012 and was made possible by an unrestricted educational grant from 3M. This document details the consensus definitions and statements and identifies research priorities for development of new adhesive technologies and protocols for skin protection. The CE test for this article is available online only at the journal website, jwocnonline.com, and the test can be taken online at NursingCenter.com/CE/JWOCN.