Even Superman couldn’t survive a pressure injury, why are we still letting this happen?

A beacon of strength, courage, and resilience, Christopher Reeve will always be remembered as Superman. However, it wasn’t kryptonite that claimed the man who had inspired millions, in 2004 Reeve passed away from something far more familiar, and tragically human: a pressure injury.

After becoming a quadriplegic from a horse-riding accident, Reeve spent nearly a decade navigating life with complex care needs. Despite receiving high-quality support, he developed a severe pressure sore that led to a fatal infection. This complication remains frighteningly common for people with limited mobility.

His passing is a pointed reminder of just how vulnerable even the strongest can be, and how critical it is that we do better. Not just in how we treat pressure injuries, but in how we prevent them altogether. 

Everyone deserves preventative measures rather than reactive care.

The statistics haven’t budged much

Across the world, the prevalence of pressure injuries in hospitalised adults is estimated at around 12.8% (Li et al., 2021). In Australia, over 400,000 people experience pressure injuries each year. This is contributing to more than $9 billion in healthcare costs annually (Nghiem et al., 2022). Globally, the economic impact is estimated to exceed $200 billion per year. But the impact isn’t just financial; pressure injuries are associated with decreased quality of life, increased mortality, and significant carer strain (Lenexa Medical, 2024).

Managing pressure injuries and performing regular repositioning can consume up to 25% of a nurse’s time (Caponecchia et al., 2020). Manual handling related to this type of care contributes to over 50% of workplace injuries in some clinical settings (Caponecchia et al., 2020).

Despite the best intentions and traditional tools of alternating air mattresses and repositioning schedules, we’re still responding rather than preventing.

These injuries aren’t just a nuisance; they cost lives and resources. They prolong hospital stays, increase infection risks, require ongoing wound management, and reduce quality of life. For people living in aged care, they often mark the beginning of rapid physical decline.

And yet, they’re largely preventable.

So why are they still happening?

The short answer: methods haven’t caught up to intentions. Practice must match ideals.

The traditional approach to prevention usually involves manual repositioning every two hours, staff doing skin checks throughout the day, and the use of specialised surfaces such as alternating air mattresses. These have long been the only frontline defence. But in real-world settings, these methods often fall short:

• Manual checks are time-intensive and rely on consistent staffing, a challenge across the aged care sector
• Standardised repositioning doesn’t always match individual needs
• Alternating air mattresses can be noisy, uncomfortable, and reactive rather than accurately predictive
• Documentation is often retrospective, inconsistent, and lacks objective data

It’s a system based on vigilance, not visibility, and that creates too much room for factors to be missed.

As a result, many pressure injuries are still being discovered after the damage has begun.

What’s needed is a smarter, earlier way to identify risk, before the first signs of injury appear.

The 2025 International Guidelines are clear:

“No support surface [including air mattresses] can replace repositioning.” (NPIAP, 2025)

Major clinical research supports this. A landmark randomised trial by Nixon et al. (2019) found no statistically significant benefit of air mattresses over high-specification foam, when repositioning was done well.

But the issue is not just the mattress. It’s what happens on top of it, and when.

Pressure injuries occur when sustained pressure is left unrelieved for too long. Today’s best-practice care recognises what is needed, real-time insight into risk is critical, not generic prevention schedules.

And one day soon, pressure injuries could be something we look back on, not something we manage. 

What if we could see the risks, in real time?

A number of forward-thinking aged care and hospital providers are now trialling and adopting real-time monitoring technologies designed to make pressure injury prevention more targeted, consistent, and data-driven.

One such innovation is LenexaCARE®, an Australian-developed system that turns a mattress into a smart surface. Using fabric-based sensors embedded beneath the patient, the technology maps pressure points and uses artificial intelligence to alert staff when repositioning is needed. The system is tailored to the individual, not a generic schedule.

This approach is showing real promise. In trials across two hospitals and nine aged care facilities, not a single pressure injury has been recorded while LenexaCARE® was in use (Austrade, 2024).

Zero.

That’s more than a number, it’s a signal that we can and must move from outdated models of treatment to a new standard of prevention-first care.

It’s not just about detection, either. The system also automates documentation, supports audit compliance, and provides visibility to support broader clinical decision-making, allowing staff to focus less on guesswork, and more on care.

Prevention should be the norm, not the exception

Pressure injury prevention isn’t just a clinical KPI. It’s a matter of safety, comfort and dignity especially for people who may not be able to speak up about their pain or discomfort. For residents in aged care and patients with limited mobility, prevention is protection and excellence in care.

Tools like LenexaCARE® bring together prevention, insight, and efficiency, helping shift pressure injury prevention from a reactive burden to a proactive standard. These tools offer dignity to residents, peace of mind to families, and better outcomes for staff and systems alike.

As we remember Christopher Reeve and the thousands of others who have suffered needlessly, we’re reminded that strength isn’t just about endurance. It’s about aiming for prevention. It’s about protecting those who can’t protect themselves. And it’s about designing systems that put safety and efficiency first.

Because in aged care, the real superpower?
Catching problems before they start.