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cherylar40 -> Kennedy terminal ulcer (April 28, 2001 2:02:00 PM)
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I'm a PT in LTC. I have a pt who's 4 wks s/p severe CVA with L hemi. She recently developed a stage III pressure sore on her coccyx. Our wound care RN saw her yesterday and said it was a Kennedy Terminal Ulcer and that she had a 95% chance of dying in the next 2 wks. If this is so, maybe the 2 hrs of daily OT, PT and ST she's getting are not so appropriate. Before I change anything, I wanted to find some research to prove(or refute) her diagnosis. 2 hrs of searching nursing/wound care sites/journals, PubMed and the like only led me to 3 letters on a wound care forum. One described the lesion as not a pressure ulcer, but the failure of the skin(as an organ), shortly before death; it presents as a butterfly shaped III-IV sore, and is not preventable. I also found the nurse who "named" the ulcer: Karen Lou Kennedy. She's on lots of editorial boards,and published research on incontinence, but I couldn't find any research by her or anyone else on this ulcer. I'd very much appreciate if you online research gurus could help me. Or if anyone has had experience with this phenomenon, let me know.
Thanks!
Cheryl Robillard PT
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