The added value of physiotherapists in preventing pressure injuries in intensive care patients

Physiotherapists improve movement and function for people who experience challenges from aging, injury, illness, or the environment. They promote physical, psychological, emotional and social well-being through prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation (World Physiotherapy, 2023). Intensive care units (ICU) patients frequently struggle with limitations in physical function and activity rendering them at high risk for pressure injuries (PI). The development of PI is augmented by immobility, hypoperfusion, vasopressors, malnutrition, sweating and/or shearing force, whereby the increased pressure on prominent surfaces exceeds the capillary pressure of the underlying tissue resulting in tissue damage and ultimately necrosis (Nieto-García et al., 2021; Pickenbrock et al., 2017). This article discusses how physiotherapists with their specific knowledge can add value to prevent, treat or rehabilitate PI in ICU patients (Fig. 1).