| Sumario: | Background: The heel has become the second most common site for the development of pressure ulcers in recent years. Hospitals worldwide have been implementing preventive measures to tackle pressure ulcers in patients, such as the use of offloading devices and dressing. Aim: To evaluate the effectiveness of a soft silicone multilayer heel dressing (Mepilex® Heel) in reducing the incidence of heel pressure injuries (HPI) among critical ill patients in the intensive care unit (ICU). Method: This was a quasi-experimental, pre-, and postintervention study design conducted in three adult ICUs in an academic teaching hospital. A convenience sampling was used to recruit 326 patients (195 patients in pre-intervention, 131 patients in intervention group). Result: Statistical analysis was made using Fisher exact test to compare between the two groups. The results showed a reduction of 86% in the incidence of HPI between the two groups (pre-intervention: 10.8% versus post-intervention: 1.5%). Patients in the intervention group were less likely to develop HPIs (p=<0.007). Conclusion: A prophylactic multilayer foam heel dressing has shown to be effective at reducing the incidence of HPIs among critically ill patients in ICU, even with the tropical climate in Singapore.
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