Janet Cuddigan, PhD, professor emeritus in the UNMC College of Nursing, chaired an interdisciplinary, international panel of experts to develop the 4th Edition of “Prevention and Treatment of Pressure Ulcers/Injuries: The International Guideline.”
Guideline development was sponsored by the National Pressure Injury Advisory Panel (NPIAP), European Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel (EPUAP) and Pan Pacific Pressure Injury Alliance (PPPIA). Using the gold standard method for guideline development, Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE), the guideline panel evaluated over 3,000 pressure injury studies published since the third edition.
Published systematic reviews, meta-analyses and randomized controlled clinical trials were evaluated for quality. Additional meta-analyses were conducted by the guideline methodologist. Recommendations and Good Practice Statements drafted by the12-member guideline panel were reviewed by 17 Associate Organizations, panels of over 200 clinical experts and consumers from 40 countries and over 900 stakeholders. The final result is an evidence-based guideline on pressure injury prevention and treatment based on a rigorous analysis of the research while still providing practical guidance for clinicians.
The guideline is available for free downloads at https://www.internationalguideline.com/the-international-guideline. The previous three editions were each distributed to over 200,000 individuals, translated into 17-20 languages and exceeded the threshold for highly cited articles in clinical medicine. The guideline panel hopes the 4th Edition meets or exceeds previous levels of dissemination but more importantly, we hope that the evidence-based guidance is implemented and improves outcomes for patients worldwide.