So this little blog message is for my nurse friends out there....a little healthcare discussion. I KNOW we've had this discussion (back in the good ol' days of working nights at Union hospital). And to my knowledge, I'm not sure if we came up with the textbook answer. As the picture shows, the topic is on pitting vs. non-pitting edema. Obviously we're all aware that pitting edema is graded 1-4....but what about non-pitting edema? I've always graded my non-pitting edema based on my visual assessment of the amount of swelling I'm observing (whether this is right or not). I've looked on the internet but can't find a flat out answer to this. But to me, you have to have some sort of measurement or the next shift wouldn't know if it's better or worse! So what is it girls??
Just so you know, I just went and grabbed my Medical-Surgical Nursing textbook and looked it up. It doesn't say. It talks about measuring pitting edema, etc. etc... but nothing about what to do if the edema ISN'T pitting? I document it as trace, moderate, severe, non-pitting edema and the location but I don't know if this is the "right" answer. What do you think?
ReplyDeleteI tried to google it also and had no luck. I agree with Jess, and often with non-pitting edema the area will be "tight" and "shiny" so I document that as well.
ReplyDeleteMary just said... "What's pitting edema?" HAHAHAHAHAHAHA... (Just kidding.)
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