Bed sore

[J/L]

Can a person lay on a sore if they are on a clinitron? Not a big sore but a sore none the less? Anyone here ever have a flap surgery and laid on it with a clinitron? Thanks

[SCI-Nurse]

Yes for a limited time

CWO

[xJdinox]

I agree. When I was on a clinitron, I was turned every 2 hrs when I had flap surgery. The first time was for 2 weeks and the second time was 4 weeks.

[lynnifer]

Many many eons ago, when I was 15, I wasn't supposed to lay on the wound (coccyx area) on a clinitron bed (those are the vertical pillows of air right?)

Any pressure at all blocks those tiny micro-capillaries of the skin ... but that's just my opinion.

[btorb74]

I had flap surgery just above my butt crack and then had to lay flat on my back for 2 weeks on a clinitron, no turning or inclining the bed at all. After that I was on a low air loss mattress and had to turn.

[Tuglady]

My husband had wound flap surgery on his coccyx for a Stage IV Jan 23, 08; was then put on a Clinitron bed for 3 months at a wound care center. He was not repositioned except during drsg changes. The flap did not take and a 2nd closure was done Mar 23, which was ridiculous because you can't sew up a Stage IV hole and expect it to heal from the inside out. Also was on a wound vac after the 2nd closure opened up. Released after 12 weeks (insurance) to home with a lateral rotation mattress. We changed wound care physicians, he reopened the site, confined to bed at home for another 2 months, back on the wound vac for 8 months now. My husband can't lay on either side for more than 15 minutes due to extreme pain in shoulders. So I depend on the lateral rotation mattress to relieve most of the pressure. It is now a Stage III and much smaller. I can't really say that the Clinitron bed did any good or did any harm - seems everything went wrong that could go wrong.

[J/L]

Tuglady, I don't think clinitrons are intended for immobile patients but you can probably get away with it for a certain amount of time. 3 months is a lot of time. Probably too much.

[J/L]

Lynnifer, that may be a low air loss bed that you are describing. Clinitrons are full of sand that circulates freely under the patient. No cells.

[rybread]

On the Clinitron bed because of the way it works, there is no pressure on the sore that you're on. It will distribute pressure perfectly throughout everything on your body. It's not necessary to turn every two hours in one of those but I used to make sure I get turned at least every six hours so fluid wouldn't build up in my lungs and I would stay away from pneumonia. That's the main problem with laying flat for too long, it's bad for your lungs and a bunch of other things, otherwise I'm on a low air loss in mattress and uncommonly on my back for up to 12 hours and I haven't had any problems laying on my sore unless I sit up. You'll be fine on the Clinitron laying on your back all night if you want. I had someone come out and pressure map me on the bed to make sure there were no hard spots anywhere and it was perfect, no high-pressure anywhere laying down. It was as if I was laying on air.

[SCI-Nurse]

If you are truly on a Clinitron, you should be able to lay on the area for a short while. The best way to heal any area is to avoid putting any pressure on it at all. That is not always practical, so the Clinitron should help.

Make sure that you drink more than usual - the Clinitron tends to dry you out and that you are repositioned for comfort and for all the issues noted above.

Also, make sure that area in particular is thoroghly checked by your care provider preferably twice a day, depending on the type of wound healing product you are using. Make sure you have a good description of what it looks like so you are aware of any changes.

CKF