Complications of pressure sores

Complications can occur from ongoing pressure sores and also from treating pressure sores.¹ Some complications of ongoing pressure sores include:

• Infections.
  • Cellulitis is an infection of the skin. Cellulitis causes painful, red, hot, swollen skin that may crack, split, or weep fluid.
  • Osteomyelitis is an infection in the bone. It causes swollen and red skin over the affected bone. It also causes pain that is worse when pressing on the infected area.
• Bacteremia or a bacterial infection in the blood (sepsis).
• Necrotizing fasciitis or a bacterial infection that destroys skin and soft tissues such as fat and muscle.
• Endocarditis, which is an infection of the heart lining. Symptoms of endocarditis include vague, flu-like symptoms, such as chronic low-grade fever and fatigue.
• Meningitis, which is an infection of the fluid that surrounds the brain and spine. Meningitis causes a severe headache with a stiff neck, fever, nausea, and vomiting.
• Septic arthritis, which is pain and inflammation of a joint caused by a bacterial infection. Septic arthritis causes a joint to be red, hot, swollen, and tender.
• Abscesses. An abscess can form on the skin or on tissues within the body and cause pain, swelling, and tenderness.
• Deposits of bone in soft tissues (heterotopic bone formation). These occur especially around the hip joint and can cause pain and problems with walking or moving the legs.
• Squamous cell skin cancer, especially if the wound becomes a stage 4 pressure sore. Symptoms of squamous cell cancer include growths or patches of skin that feel scaly, bleed, or develop a crust, and sores that do not heal.

Citations

1. O'Connor K (2005). Pressure ulcers. In JA DeLisa et al., eds., Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation: Principles and Practice, 4th ed., vol. 2, pp. 1605–1618. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams and Wilkins.

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