Practice Dilemmas: Conditions That Mimic Pressure Ulcers/Injuries- To Be or Not To Be?

Background: Pressure ulcers/injuries (PU/Is) negatively affect patients by causing pain and increasing morbidity and mortality risks. Care teams have a heightened sense of awareness of the condition and may feel confident in their ability to appropriately identify and manage PU/Is, but the potential for, and consequences of, a misdiagnosis always should be considered.

Purpose: The purpose of this compendium is to describe and illustrate conditions that may mimic PU/Is.

Methods: Advanced practice wound care nurses were asked to identify and describe conditions that may mimic PU/Is. Permission was obtained from all patients to use their cases and photos in this article.

Results: Sixteen (16) different skin and wound presentations resulting from vascular diseases, systemic infections, trauma, cancer, autoimmune disorders, coagulopathies, and multisystem organ dysfunction were identified and described.

Conclusion: A complete patient history and assessment will help prevent misidentification of the etiology of a skin lesion or wound and misdiagnosis of these lesions as PU/Is.