Prevention of sore heels: evidence and outcomes.

Abstract

The orthopaedic service at the Sheffield Children’s hospital is a regional, tertiary service providing complex surgical procedures often requiring several days of enforced bed rest. Staff on the orthopaedic ward had become increasingly concerned about the number of children who had developed sore heels postoperatively. Until a few years ago, our care, where surgery permitted, included a regular turning regime to relieve pressure, the use of pillows under the heels and the occasional use of water filled gloves. Clinical effectiveness (DoH 1996) is about ‘doing the right thing in the right way for the right patient at the right time’ (RCN 1998), which is underpinned by evidence-based practice (Le May 1999). With these requirements in mind we attempted to identify from the evidence a suitable heel pressure relieving device and planned to implement the device in practice.