Unstagable/Suspected Deep Tissue Injury

[LTCRN4LIFE]

Tell me what category you'd use.

Bilat Heel Ulcers. Both have brown "hardened" eschar.

I call them Suspected Deep Tissue Injury because they are not open and I did not see them initially when they developed. I have no idea if they started out as purple blisters or not. However I do realize this hardened brown eschar happened over some time.

A co worker says they are Unstagable. I say no because they are intact, have always been intact and unstagable means full thickness tissue loss with a wound bed that has slough or eschar making it unstagable. The coworker states there could be full thickness tissue loss under the brown eschar. Both of us are a little gray on this. Please clear it up for us. Thank you.

[Smokey9283]

I would stage this as unstageable. Reason being that SDTI is used when the area is purple, non blancheable and boggy. In you listing you also mentioned that the heals had hard brown eschar. Eschar means that DTI has already occured, how deep remains to be seen thus unstageable.

[sharlynn]

I agree with Smokey.

[FranNHRN]

I also agree with Smokey. Deep tissue injury would present as purple...more like a fresh bruise. The presence of eschar makes it older and unstageable.

[ktwlpn, LPN]

Tell me what category you'd use.

Bilat Heel Ulcers. Both have brown "hardened" eschar.

.[/quote>>>. They are unstageable due to the eschar but we we note stage 4 for MDS purposes at our facility....