Risk factors for pressure injuries in individuals with spinal cord injuries who have sarcopenic obesity: A comparison of time-dependent changes in sacral region pressure between individuals with and without sarcopenic obesity.

Objective: To identify the risk factors for pressure injuries in individuals with spinal cord injuries (SCIs) who have sarcopenic obesity, comparing time-dependent changes in sacral region pressure in individuals with and without sarcopenic obesity.

Design: An experimental time series study.

Setting: Single-center hospital.

Participants: Twenty-five adult participants with subacute and chronic paraplegia who visited our rehabilitation center, Republic of Korea, between May 2021 and June 2022.

Interventions: Whole-body dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry was performed to diagnose sarcopenic obesity. After the participants were placed in the supine position for 1 hour, the average pressure (mmHg), peak pressure (mmHg), and total contact area (cm²) of the sacral region were measured using the pressure-mapping system.

Results: Compared with the non-sarcopenic obesity group, the sarcopenic obesity group showed significant before-and-after differences in peak pressure. Furthermore, the risk factors that were significantly associated with peak pressure in the sarcopenic obesity group were the American Spinal Injury Association Impairment Scale score and the fat mass index.

Conclusion: Among participants with SCIs, the risk of pressure injuries is higher in the sarcopenic obesity group than in the non-sarcopenic obesity group. Notably, the risk of pressure injuries increases in participants who have complete injury and an increased fat mass index, indicating the importance of close monitoring and more active management to prevent pressure injuries in this subpopulation.