Pressure ulcers are a significant and increasing source of human suffering. The precise number of people who have pressure ulcers is unknown. However, conservative estimates indicate that well over a million persons in hospitals and nursing homes suffer from pressure ulcers. One large study found that one in four Americans who died in 1987 had a dermal ulcer. The prevalence of pressure ulcers is almost certain to grow due to increasing numbers of fragile elderly and survivors if serious trauma. (National Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel, 1989.)