Patient Comfort Systems

The Mechanism of “Bottoming Out”
Knowing that peak pressure is a problem that results in patient discomfort and potentially even tissue damage, it is important, to understand what causes this. Peak pressure loads are primarily the result of a phenomenon commonly referred to as “bottoming out”. This is a term borrowed from the support surface industry to describe what happens when a patient comes into contact with the surface on which a support mattress has been installed. The practical impact is that there is no longer any pressure redistribution and peak pressures result.

Traditional foam pads allow the patient to “bottom out” when they become so compressed and hard, or simply worn out, that the redistribution of weight is no longer possible. As weight becomes increasingly concentrated (peak pressure), there is essentially no way for the body to relieve venous congestion. The pressure spikes associated with “bottoming out” commonly occur in the occipital area, sacrum, heal, trochanters, and scapula. When external forces are greater than the internal blood pressure of the capillaries, blood flow is severely restricted resulting in tissue ischemia, pain, discomfort and erythema (one of the earliest signs of a pressure ulcer).

The TEMPUR® pressure managing core used in the manufacture of Patient Comfort Systems’ products utilizes a combination of materials with various densities and flow rates designed to properly support the body and keep it suspended above the solid table on which the mattress is placed. This effectively manages the forces which can lead to “bottoming out”.