Superabsorbent polymer and foam dressings for preventing sacral hospital-acquired pressure injury: a systematic literature review and exploratory matching-adjusted indirect comparisons

Introduction Hospital-acquired pressure injuries remain an important patient-safety burden, yet direct evidence comparing prophylactic sacral dressing technologies is absent.Areas covered Embase, MEDLINE, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials were searched from database inception through 23 January 2026; supplementary searches were completed on 26 January 2026, and one eligible post-search publication was assessed separately. Twenty-five studies were included. Sacral pressure-injury incidence varied widely across settings and study designs. The single-arm SAP study reported no sacral pressure injuries among 50 participants (0.0%; two-sided Clopper–Pearson exact 95% confidence interval, 0.0–7.1%) Two unanchored matching-adjusted indirect comparisons examined population alignment for time to pressure injury and dressing utilization. Adjustment was restricted to available baseline covariates; important differences in pressure-injury risk, setting, follow-up, and prevention protocols remainedExpert opinion The review supports prophylactic dressings as an adjunct to comprehensive prevention but does not establish the relative effectiveness of superabsorbent polymer and foam technologies.Registration : OSF M2ze7