Florida Senior Sacral Ulcers Lawyers
If you have an elderly family member with a sacral ulcer, talk to the attorneys at Freedland Harwin Valori, PL, for help. There is a chance your loved one could recover damages in a Florida personal injury lawsuit. Sacral ulcers, like all pressure ulcers or bedsores, are preventable. They only occur when nursing home staff members fail to move residents around the required amount, resulting in a buildup of pressure on the sacrum.
The sacral part of the body, also called the sacrum, is the area where the lower spine meets the buttocks. A sacral ulcer is a sore on the sacrum, due to improper resident care at nursing homes or patient care in hospital settings. Sacral ulcers form when residents sit too long in the same position, such as in bed or in a wheelchair, applying pressure to the sacrum and cutting off blood supply to the sacral area.
How Do Sacral Ulcers Form?
Sacral ulcers occur most commonly in nursing home residents who cannot move on their own. Those restricted to wheelchairs or beds can apply constant pressure to the sacral area, often without realizing it until a bedsore has already formed. If the resident cannot move him/herself every so often, the pressure can build and eventually cut off blood supply to the skin tissues. This can damage and even kill the tissues over time, resulting in an ulcer, or open sore.
In its first stage, a sacral ulcer can appear as a red spot on the skin. The redness will not go away or turn white when you apply pressure to the sacrum. If caught in stage one, sacral ulcers generally heal on their own (after relieving pressure) within two or three days. If nursing home staff members fail to detect the ulcer, it can worsen into stages two, three, or four.
Stage two and three ulcers affect more than just the uppermost layer of skin, causing pain and an open wound. These can take weeks or months to fully heal, and stage three might require surgery for treatment. At stage four, the sacral ulcer can damage the deepest layers of tissues and reach the tendons, muscles, and bones. There may be dead, blackened skin surrounding a stage four ulcer. These ulcers typically require surgical intervention and may never fully heal.
Sacral Ulcers and Nursing Home Negligence
All Florida nursing homes should have the knowledge and ability to prevent sacral ulcers and other types of bedsores. Sacral ulcers are 100% preventable with adequate resident care. Nursing home staff must be diligent in mobilizing and repositioning residents, as well as taking other preventive measures such as investing in specialized low-pressure mattresses and removing pressure from the sacral area.
Proper cleanliness and personal hygiene are also important in the prevention of sacral ulcers. If the nursing home keeps its residents clean and dry, it reduces the risk of pressure ulcers. Cleanliness is especially important when it comes to sacral ulcers, as they pose a heightened risk of infection from urine and feces. It is only when staff members are negligent in their duties to residents that sacral ulcers form.
We know how to prove nursing home negligence in cases involving sacral ulcers due to the preventable nature of these injuries. To bring a lawsuit against the nursing home for your loved one’s pressure sores, you must prove a “reasonable and prudent” entity in the same circumstances would have been able to prevent the ulcer from forming. Working with the right team of lawyers can make the entire claims process much easier on your family. To get in touch with Freedland Harwin Valori, PL, call (954) 467-6400 or contact us online.
