Clinical and cost effectiveness of a system for turning and positioning intensive care unit patients, when compared to usual care turning and positioning devices, for the prevention of hospital-acquired pressure injuries: a randomised controlled trial

Pressure injuries affect 13.1% to 45.5% of patients in the intensive care unit and lead to pain and discomfort for patients, burden on healthcare providers, and unnecessary cost to the health system. Turning and positioning systems offer improvements on usual care devices, however the evidence of the effectiveness of such systems is still emerging. We conducted an investigator initiated, prospective, single centre, two group, non-blinded, randomised controlled trial to determine the effectiveness of a system for turning and positioning intensive care unit patients, when compared to usual care turning and positioning devices, for preventing PIs. The trial was prematurely discontinued after enrolment of 78 participants due to COVID-19 pandemic related challenges and lower than expected enrolment rate. The study groups were comparable on baseline characteristics and adherence to the interventions was high. Four participants developed a PI (in the sacral, ischial tuberosity or buttock region), n = 2 each in the intervention and control group. Each participant developed one PI. As the trial is underpowered, these findings do not provide an indication of the clinical effectiveness of the interventions. There was no participant drop-out or withdrawal and there were no adverse events, device deficiencies, or adverse device effects identified or reported. The results of our study (in particular those pertaining to enrolment, intervention adherence and safety) provide considerations for future trials that seek to investigate how to prevent PIs among ICU patients.