Pressure injuries are complex wounds requiring a comprehensive approach to care. Pressure redistribution, wound management, infection control and treatment of underlying conditions are all critical. There is another factor that deserves close attention: nutrition.
For patients with pressure injuries, particularly those who are malnourished or at risk for malnutrition, adequate energy and protein intake can help supply the building blocks the body needs for tissue repair.
Wound healing increases the body's demand for nutrients. Protein supplies amino acids needed for:
tissue synthesis
collagen formation
immune function
other processes involved in wound repair
Pressure injuries themselves may also contribute to protein losses and increased metabolic demands, making adequate intake especially important, according to a 2024 practical guideline from the European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism.1
What’s more, Patients with pressure injuries are often older or medically complex, and they may also have:
All this makes nutritional screening and assessment an important part of pressure injury management. When patients cannot meet their nutritional needs through food alone, clinicians may consider oral nutrition supplementation as part of an individualized care plan.
Research on specialized nutritional formulas for pressure injury healing is encouraging but not conclusive, and clinicians should weigh all the facts before drawing firm conclusions.
A 2024 Cochrane review of nutritional interventions for preventing and treating pressure ulcers found that:
That caveat matters: it means the field's most rigorous, independent evidence synthesis cannot yet say with confidence how much benefit to expect, or for which patients.
Within that broader body of uncertain evidence, some individual trials have shown clearer results.
In a multicenter randomized controlled trial published in the Annals of Internal Medicine:
A subsequent systematic review and meta-analysis built on those findings, reporting that formulas enriched with arginine, zinc and antioxidants were associated with:
Taken together, the evidence suggests specialized nutritional formulas may help some patients, but the size of that benefit, and how confidently clinicians can predict it, remains an open question. Current NPIAP guidance emphasizes an individualized approach, recommending that energy and micronutrient supplementation be considered for individuals at risk of pressure injuries who have known malnutrition or micronutrient deficiencies, alongside supplementation that meets their protein needs. That reinforces the importance of assessing each patient’s nutritional status and needs when determining the appropriate nutrition intervention.5
That’s why Medtrition continues to build on its 40 years of innovation, education and collaboration to advance specialized nutrition.
Oral protein supplementation should not be viewed as a stand-alone treatment for pressure injuries. It's one component of comprehensive wound care, and the decision to use it should rest on individual patient assessment rather than the assumption that more supplementation is always better.
Dietitians, nurses, physicians, wound care specialists, and other members of the care team can work together to:
For patients who struggle to meet increased nutritional needs through meals alone, a concentrated oral protein source or specialized nutrition formula may offer one practical option among several for helping close that gap, guided by clinical judgment rather than applied uniformly.
The takeaway for clinicians: Don’t overlook the patient’s individual nutritional needs when managing a pressure injury, and consider the strength of the evidence when determining the appropriate nutrition intervention.