Skin Friction
Skin shear is an internal force caused when adjacent surfaces slide across each other, which results in twisting and tearing of the underlying blood vessels and leads to tissue ischemia and localized tissue death.
About Skin Friction
Shear stresses commonly occur when patients are semi-recumbent in bed. The body begins to slide and, before the frictional force of the skin on the bedclothes is overcome, the internal parts of the body, such as the skeleton, move down the bed. As the skin does not move, there is a stretching or tearing of the blood vessels.
Reference
Flanagan, Fletcher. Tissue viability: managing chronic wounds. In: Brooker C, Nicol M, eds. Nursing Adults: The Practice of Caring
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