Skin Shear, Comfort & Patient Support

Skin Shear Management

The nodal geometry of the surface is designed to be small in scale. By minimizing the distance between areas of patient contact with the surface, skin stretch during alternating support immersion is reduced. This effectively addresses the number one factor associated with pressure injury formation: SKIN SHEAR.

Figure 1: Zone 1 inflated (blue) Zone 2 deflated (orange)
Figure 3: Zone 1 deflated (blue) Zone 2 inflated (orange)

Immersion

Immersion into a support surface reduces the support pressure acting on the skin by distributing the patient’s weight over a larger area of contact. Dabir surfaces take advantage of this principle by protecting the patient’s skin during initial immersion while maintaining the benefits of pressure redistribution as the patient is enveloped by the base surgical pad or support mattress.

Immersion becomes problematic when parts of the patient’s skin sinks into large gaps between alternating areas of support. This can lead to excess skin stretch, potential skin shear and, ultimately, pressure injury. This is an effect that is exacerbated by the presence of moisture in the form of sweat.

If the skeletal structure supporting the patient’s weight sinks into these large gaps, skin loading goes from a compression state to a hammock-type tension state or shear condition. This accelerates the rate of pressure injury formation.

Dabir surfaces are engineered with small nodal geometry to minimize the problematic effects of immersion to promote healthy tissue perfusion and prevent pressure injury.