Prelude to Death or Practice Failure? Trombley-Brennan Terminal Tissue Injury Update

Abstract

In 2012, we published a study in this journal exploring the emergence of unique skin changes in end-of-life patients admitted to a palliative care unit. The purpose of the study was to describe the skin changes and identify the relationship between these changes and time of death. In the above study of 80 patients, the skin changes were found to be unique and different from Kennedy terminal ulcers and deep tissue injuries. Median time from identification of skin changes and death was 36 hours. The phenomenon was named as Trombley-Brennan terminal tissue injury. The current article presents findings that include the study of additional 86 patients. The results further validate the phenomenon and its relationship with time of death.